Tales of Shippuden
by Kurama no Kyubi
Summary: It has been two thousand years since the last Chosen One to succeed, succeeded and saved the world from declining. And since then most pople have forgetten about the world regeneration journey, but now the new Chosen One Uzumaki Naruto will begin his quest.
1. Chapter 1

**Tales of Shippuden**

**A/N: This is a Naruto/Tales of Symphonia crossover that I've thought of for quite a while and just like in my other story Dragon Ball Shippuden the different jutsus will be in Japanese unless it's a jutsu that I've come up whit and I don't know the Japanese name for, also the techniques from the Tales of series will be in English. One more thing, in this story forget everything you know about the Akatsuki! Now read and enjoy.**

"Chosen One" Normal speech

'_Chosen One_' Normal thought

"**Chosen One" Biju and Summoning speech**

'**Chosen One' Biju and Summoning thought**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Tales of Symphonia**

Prologue

_Once upon a time._

_There existed a giant tree that was the source of chakra._

_A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place._

_Grieving for the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens._

_The goddess left the angels with this edict:_

"_You must wake me, for if I shall sleep, the world shall be destroyed."_

_The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens._

_And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world._

Somewhere in a cave was a man wearing a yellow mask with a single eyehole in it reading on an ancient tablet before saying to himself "But, after the last Chosen One to succeed, succeeded 2,000 years ago the people of the world have slowly forgotten. And now only a few knows of this story." Suddenly he looks up from the tablet as though he just noticed something and he puts on a black cloak before he seemingly gets sucked into his own eye.

In a cave just outside the great village of Konohagakure could screams of pain be heard before their suddenly replaced by the crying of a newborn baby. An elderly woman picked the baby up while wrapping him in a blanket, not noticing the small red crystal in the child's hands.

"It's a healthy baby boy." The woman said before showing the baby to his mother while a man with blond hair was crying tears of joy and said "Ha ha…I'm a father now."

"Naruto…we finally meet." The child's mother said as she saw her son for the first time.

The man then walk over to his wife, placed his hands over a seal on her stomach and said "All right, Kushina. It's rough having just given birth…but we need to completely suppress Kyubi again."

"Yeah…" The woman, now identified as Kushina said before they suddenly heard a couple of screams. And they looked towards were the screams came from just in time to see the elderly woman and her assistant fall to the ground.

"Biwako-sama, Taji-san!" the man yelled as he noticed a masked man, standing over the two dead bodies and holding Naruto in his arms.

The masked man noticed the red crystal in Naruto's hand, picked it up and thought '_A Cruxis Crystal._' He then noticed the seal on Kushina's stomach and thought '_She's a Jinchuriki, this might work._'

He then put the sharp end of the Cruxis Crystal to Naruto's throat and said "Yondaime Hokage Minato…step away from the Jinchuriki. Or else this child will die after its first minute."

'_How did he get past the barrier? Who is he?'_ Minato wondered as he tried to figure out what to do. Suddenly the sealing marks on Kushina started to spread out over her entire body, indicating that the Kyubi's seal was weakening.

"Kushina!" '_Kyubi's seal isn't…!'_

"Hurry and step away from the Jinchuriki…don't you care what happens to your brat?"

"Wait…stay calm." Minato said, still trying to figure out what to do.

"Speak for yourself. I'm supremely calm, Minato." The masked man the suddenly threw Naruto into the air and as he came falling back down Kushina yelled "Naruto!"

But before the masked man could stab the child, Minato disappeared in a flash of yellow, grabbed Naruto and landed on the wall, using his chakra to stick to it.

"Leave it to the yellow flash…but what about next?" Minato then noticed several explosive tags attached to Naruto's blanket and he then yanked the blanket of while simultaneously doing his trademark jutsu, the Hirashin no Jutsu.

Minato and Naruto then reappeared just outside of a house which then blew up since Minato had left the blanket inside.

Minato let out a sigh of relief before saying "Naruto's not hurt." He then took out a piece of wood from the house that had imbedded itself in his leg.

'_He forced me to use the Hirashin no Jutsu. His target was Kushina…he separated us. Gotta hurry._' He thought before using the Hirashin to get back home.

Meanwhile somewhere else outside the village was Kushina standing on a rock that was in the middle of a pond, surrounded by four taller rocks. She was unable to move thanks to the sealing marks that had stretched out to the other four rocks, making it look like she's in chains. **(A/N: Yeah I know I suck at describing stuff like this.)**

"What…do you want?"

"I'm going to extract Kyubi from you and crush Konoha." The masked man lied.

"What…?" Kushina said in disbelief.

"Minato's Hirashin no Jutsu allows him to transport between locations marked with jutsu symbols. The markings are incorporated into this sealing spell. Minato can protect you at all times. But he is far away right now. Kyubi's seal has weakened due to childbirth. Do you know how long I have waited for this?" Just then Kushina sees the man's eye, which is red with three black comma like marks in it, the Sharingan.

Meanwhile in Minato and Kushina's house was Minato just laying Naruto on the bed while saying "You'll be safe here. Please be patient, Naruto. I have to rescue your mother."

"Now…come on out, Kyubi." Suddenly, a giant nine tailed fox with orange fur came out of Kushina's body as it let out a triumphant roar.

Kushina slumped over on the rock she was on as the masked man said "Good…to Konohagakure." Kushina then looked toward the man and said "Wait."

"You Uzumaki shinobi are simply amazing…you don't die right away when the Biju is extracted? You were his Jinchuriki…I'll let you die by his hand." Kyubi then raised his arm and slammed it down on the red haired woman.

Luckily Minato had gotten to her in time as he appeared atop a tree with Kushina in his arms.

"You really are a flash…but you're too late."

"Minato…Naruto…is Naruto…all right?" Kushina asked weakly.

"Yeah…he's fine…he's in a safe place right now."

"Oh, good…Minato…stop that man and Kyubi…they're planning to hit Konoha." She said before they disappeared and the masked man said "He flew away…that's fine…now let's get to Konoha."

Throughout the village could many shinobi sense that there was something wrong, but no one could ever have imagined what was about to happen as the masked man got into the village, bit his thumb, weaved several hand signs, slammed his hands down on the ground and said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Suddenly the giant nine tailed demon appeared in the middle of the village as it started attacking on the masked man's orders.

All high ranking shinobi immediately went to engage the demon, but they didn't stand a chance. Suddenly Minato, wearing his jonin vest and Kage robes appeared atop his face on the Hokage monument. "Noticed me?"

Kyubi then created a black sphere of chakra as Minato went through several hand signs while saying "I won't let you destroy this spot." Before the sphere was launched towards him.

Just as the sphere of chakra nears the Hokage monument, it suddenly disappears, before reappearing and exploding on the other side of the mountains.

'_With this much power, I've got to carefully choose where I redirect his attacks. I've got to alert Sandaime-sama right away about what's going on._' He then noticed that the masked man was behind him and he quickly turned around intending to stab his kunai threw the man's head, but both Minato's kunai and his arm went straight through the man as though he wasn't there.

As soon as Minato's arm and kunai have completely passed through the man, he quickly materialized, grabbed Minato's arm and tried to suck Minato into his eye, but Minato was able to get away and back to where the destroyed house from earlier was.

'_My attack passed right through him…a moment later, he made himself solid and tried to pull me inside of him…what was that jutsu?' _Minato thought just before the masked man appeared in front of him.

"You shall not escape."

'_He uses space-time ninjutsu too? So that's how he was able to grab Kushina and move so quickly. He managed to defeat the ANBU directly assigned to Sandaime-sama. Get past the highest level classified barrier. Knew that Kyubi's seal would weaken during childbirth. Plus was able to unravel Kyubi's seal, tame him. And slip in and out of konoha's barrier __without triggering any alarms. As far as I know, there is only one shinobi who can do all that.'_ "Are you Uchiha Madara?" Minato asked as the man, now identified as Madara removed his hood.

"But no…it's not possible…he's dead."

"Hmm…I wonder about that."

"In the end it doesn't matter who you are…but why attack Konoha?" Minato wondered

"It seems…whimsical…but also somewhat planned. For the sake of the world's regeneration." Madara said as he held up the Cruxis Crystal.

'_The world's regeneration? What is he talking about?' _Just then as Minato looked at the crystal in Madara's hand, he remembered where and how the man had gotten it '_That crystal, he took it from Naruto, but where did Naruto get it?'_

"Where did that crystal come from?" Minato asked.

"Your son was holding it when he was born and I took it from him so that I may return it to him when he's older."

"What are you babbling about?"

"I originally came here to protect the next Chosen One and fate simply smiled upon me when I noticed that his mother was a Jinchuriki." Madara said, confusing Minato even more.

'_Chosen One? What is that supposed to mean?'_ Minato wondered before saying "What makes you think that Naruto is this…Chosen One?"

"When the Chosen One is born, the Angels give him a powerful stone called a Cruxis Crystal." Madara said before suddenly vanishing while saying "Now hurry and put Kyubi inside your son, so that the Chosen One can finally succeed in his quest for the first time in 2,000 years and save the world from declining."

Meanwhile had the Konoha shinobi just managed to get Kyubi out of the village, but he suddenly charged up another black sphere of chakra, but just before he could fire a large toad that Minato had summoned fell down on him, but the chakra sphere was still there and it was aiming straight at the Sandaime and the village behind him. However, just before the demon could fire, he disappeared just before a large explosion could be seen in the distance.

Minato and Kyubi had reappeared with the house and Minato had also managed to save Kushina and Naruto before the house got blown up.

"I've got to erect a barrier right away." Minato said before he realized something '_But not much chakra left.'_

"I can still…do it… Minato." Kushina said before chains made out of chakra suddenly came out of her body and pinned Kyubi to the ground while also forming a barrier around them.

Suddenly Naruto start crying as Kushina said "Whoops…woke him up. Sorry…Naruto."

"Kushina."

"I'll take…Kyubi with me…to my death… so that…the interval until he…emerges again…is delayed. It's all I can manage right now, with my remaining chakra, to help you two. Thank you…for everything up 'till now."

"Kushina…you're the one…who made me Yondaime Hokage. Who made me your man. And made me this child's father. And yet I'm useless." Minato said.

"Minato…don't look so sad. I-I'm happy…I'm…you love me…plus…today…is the child's birthday…so. Most of all…if…I…were to imagine…me alive, and our future…together, as a family of three…then…I can't see us… being anything but happy. If I were allowed…just one…regret…I wish I could have seen Naruto…grow up." Kushina said before Minato got an idea.

"Kushina…there's no need for you to die to kill Kyubi. Preserve what little of your chakra remains for your reunion with Naruto. I'm going to seal rest of your chakra inside Naruto. It'll be part of a trigram seal. And then I'll take Kyubi with me…with the sealing jutsu that I can do, not being a Jinchuriki…the Shikifujin."

"But…that jutsu results in the casters death." Kushina protested before Minato continued "Furthermore…I'm only going to seal away half of Kyubi. Partly because it's physically impossible to seal such a large volume of power, but also because it's not strategically wise. If you take Kyubi with you, there will be no Jinchuriki until he reemerges and the Biju balance will be upset, which isn't good. With the Shikifujin, we can at least seal away half of Kyubi forever. And the other half…"

Minato then remembered something that his sensei, Jiraya once said.

Flashback

"Perhaps…you're the child of prophecy." Jiraya said

"Huh? The what?"

"In the future…terrible things are likely to befall the shinobi world. And the savior that shall emerge is this child of prophecy.

End flashback

Minato then recalled what Madara had told him.

Another flashback

"When the Chosen One is born, the Angels give him a powerful stone called a Cruxis Crystal." Madara said before suddenly vanishing while saying "Now hurry and put Kyubi inside your son, so that the Chosen One can finally succeed in his quest for the first time in 2,000 years and save the world from declining."

End flashback

"…I'm gonna seal inside Naruto. Using the trigram seal. I know what you're going to say…but remember what Jiraya-sensei said about world upheaval and the calamities that will accompany that. I have a feeling that this child will be the child of prophecy that he mentioned. He will open up the future as a Jinchuriki. I don't know how, but I'm sure of it." Minato finished.

"But…Minato." Kushina said, but before she could continue, Minato had already made the necessary hand signs for the Shikifujin.

"Let's believe in this child. He is our son, after all." Minato said as the god of death appeared behind him.

"After this Shikifujin, I'm going to seal your chakra inside Naruto. You won't have a lot of time to spend with grown-up Naruto, but I want you to help him when he tries to control Kyubi's power as a Jinchuriki."

"He's our son. Which is exactly why…I don't want him to bear such…a heavy burden." Kushina said as Minato looked down on her before she continued "But why…the Shikifujin? There's no need…for you to die…just so I can meet grown-up Naruto…especially for so short a time. I'd rather you stayed with Naruto…and watched over his development…see. Why does Naruto have to be sacrificed for the Biju balance…for country…for village? And why do you have to sacrifice yourself for my sake?"

"To forsake one's country…and one's village…is the same as forsaking ones child. You whose birth nation is no more ought to know that too well, no? How harsh life is for those without a land to call home. Besides which, our family is Shinobi. Finally…even if I were to live, I'd lose out to you."

Minato then got down on his knees as he continued "Even though you won't have much time with him… there's something only you can tell Naruto, something that I can't, that's a mother's role. So I'm not doing this just for you…I'm doing it for Naruto. I will die for my son…it is my duty as his father."

He then stood up as an arm suddenly shot out of him and hit Kyubi's leg as the gigantic fox thought _**'You. Yondaime Hokage.'**_

"Seal." Minato said as half of Kyubi's chakra got ripped out of the large fox and went straight into the Yondaime.

Minato then summoned what looked like some sort of alter while saying "All right…now for the trigram seal, to seal the rest of Kyubi inside Naruto."

'_**A ritual alter. He's planning to seal me again? Not inside that baby.'**_ Kyubi thought as he was still struggling to get out of the chakra chain's hold while Minato put Naruto down on the alter.

Suddenly Kushina started coughing and her hold on the huge fox weakened and Kyubi saw his chance and thrusted his foot forward to try and kill the newborn child, but Minato and Kushina got in way of his claw and got stabbed by it just in time to save Naruto.

From a distance atop a tree, Madara was watching everything that was happening "Now it's only a matter of time before the chosen's journey will begin." He said as he held up the Cruxis Crystal in front of himself and looked at it through the one hole in his mask.

Chapter preview

Zetsu "Hello, Chosen One."

Naruto "Wh-who are you?"

Zetsu **"We are Akatsuki no Zetsu.** And we have been assigned to bring you to the Martel temple."

Zetsu "Next time on Tales of Shippuden: **The Martel temple**

Character status

Minato: level: 40

Techniques: Rasengan, Hirashin, Shikifujin, Keiyaku fuin, Hakke no fuin shiki, Shisho fuin, Jikukan kekkai, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi.

Weapons: special kunai.

Kushina: level: 45

Techniques: Chakra chains, Chakra chains barrier.

Weapons: none

Kekkei Genkai: Chakra chains.

Madara: level: 40

Techniques: Doton: Moguragakure, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Izanagi, Jikukan ido, Kuchiyose.

Weapons: none

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Kyubi: level: 200

Techniques: Bijudama.

Weapons: none

**A/N: Not exactly the shortest prologue, but I hope it didn't get to boring. Also in order to make sure that I got as much as possible right, I read through the manga while writing this. Also the Chosen One is always born into the Uzumaki clan, so the Martel temple is somewhere near Uzushiogakure. It might be a while till I'll update this story since I've got seven other stories to work on.**


	2. The Martel temple

**Tales of Shippuden**

**Chosen arc**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but since I'm writing 8 stories, I decided to concentrate on one story each week and this is the third story that I'll be concentrating on. I've noticed that some of you want Naruto to be paired with Sheena, but I've only got one crossover pairing planned for this story so far and it's not Naruto/Sheena.**

"Chosen One." Normal speech

'_Chosen One.' _Normal thought

"**Chosen One." Biju, Angel and summoning speech**

'_**Chosen One.' **_**Biju, Angel and summoning thought**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, except for parts of the plot.

Chapter 1: The Martel temple

It's been 7 years since the Kyubi attack and only those who are old enough to remember that night knows what really happened to the giant fox. While everyone else, basically anyone that were 3 years or younger that night believes that the Yondaime killed the Biju.

It was currently late in the evening and a young boy with spiky blond hair, cerulean blue eyes and 3 whisker marks on each cheek that marked him as the Jinchuriki of Kyubi. He wore a white t-skirt with what looked like a flame on the front and, unknown to him, the Uzumaki crest on the back, he also wore grey shorts and blue shinobi sandals.

As Naruto walked past his favorite ramen stand, Ichiraku ramen, he felt his stomach rumbling, but then he remembered that he didn't have any money, so he just walked further.

"Hey, Naruto." Naruto turned around to see a man with brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a chunin/jonin uniform and he had a scar across the bridge of his nose. This was Naruto's teacher at the academy, Umino Iruka-sensei.

A little while later were Naruto and Iruka sitting at the ramen stand, eating or in Naruto's case devouring ramen.

Neither of them noticed however that they were being watched from the rooftops by a weird plant-like thing.

Later Naruto walked into his apartment to go to bed, but suddenly came the plant-like thing that had been watching him earlier out of the floor.

It was pretty tall and it had a black cloak with a red cloud pattern on it, what had the appearance of a venus flytrap opened up to reveal what looked like a person, the entire left side of his body was white while the rest was black.

"Hello, Chosen One." The person said.

"Wh-who are you?" Naruto asked.

"**We are Akatsuki no Zetsu. **And we have been assigned to bring you to the Martel temple." Zetsu said.

(Zetsu received the title: Akatsuki no Zetsu: A member of the organization known as Akatsuki, even though he can't fight, he's an invaluable member.)

"The Martel temple? What's that? And why do you want to bring me there?" Naruto asked, getting more and more confused.

"Meet us at the gates in an hour and we'll explain everything to you." Zetsu said before sinking down into the floor.

Later at the gates, Naruto came with a backpack on his back. He noticed that the gate guards were oddly absent and at the gate was Zetsu standing.

"**I told you he would come!"** Zetsu's black half said to his white as Naruto approached him.

(Zetsu received the title: Split personality: one who has two personalities. you can sometimes find him talking…with himself.)

"So what was it that you were gonna tell me?" Naruto asked.

"We'll talk about it on the way there. There's a long way to Uzushio anyway!" Zetsu said as they started walking away from the village.

"Uzushio?" Naruto asked.

"**The village that you hail from!"** Zetsu said before he started telling Naruto about his role **"You see Chosen One, the chakra around the world is getting thinner and thinner every year."**

"What do you mean? And why do you keep calling me Chosen One?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"We'll get to that." Zetsu said before continuing **"About 4 thousand years ago, there existed a giant tree that was producing chakra, but that tree eventually withered and died."**

"And then chakra started fading away from the world, of course it was quite a lot of chakra to begin with, but what we have now is only a fraction of what we used to have." Zetsu continued with the story.

"**However, someone that bore the will of the Goddess Martel was born and that person was known as the Chosen One. And he managed to regenerate the world, but the world eventually went back into this state that we find ourselves in now and other Chosens were born, but 2 thousand years ago, the Chosen Ones started failing the journey. **And that is why the organization Akatsuki was formed, to protect the Chosen One, namely you.**" **Zetsu said.

"How do you know that I'm the Chosen One?" Naruto asked.

"Simple, each Chosen One is born, carrying a small red stone, called a Cruxis crystal, and you were born with one in your hand." Zetsu replied.

"But if I was born, holding it in my hand, where is it?" Naruto asked.

"It won't be given to you before you receive the oracle." Zetsu said.

"The oracle? What's that?" Naruto asked.

"An Angel that have been sent down from the heavens to guide you in your journey." Zetsu said.

"An Angel?" Naruto asked and Zetsu nodded even though Naruto couldn't see it.

"**Normally you shouldn't have received the oracle before you were 16, but since so many Chosen ones have failed, it's been decided that you should receive the oracle at the age of 7 and instead of going on a journey, you'll mostly be staying in your village and we of the Akatsuki will be searching for the different seals that you'll be going to and when we've found one, two of our members will be sent to bring you to the seal and protect you from any danger that you can't overcome on your own."** Zetsu said.

"Sounds dangerous, you really think that I can do it when so many have failed?" Naruto asked.

"This time will be different because you have something that the others didn't have." Zetsu said.

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"**Kyubi!"** Zetsu replied and Naruto was quite shocked by it.

"Wh-what do you mean? The Yondaime killed the Kyubi, didn't he?" Naruto said, starting to doubt pieces of the story that Iruka-sensei had told him about the Kyubi attack.

"**The Yondaime didn't kill the Kyubi, it's impossible to kill a Biju. What the Yondaime did was sealing it within his own son. He sealed it into you!"** Zetsu said and Naruto stopped walking and looked down on the ground as he sub-consciously clutched his stomach.

"Me? I'm the Yondaime's…son?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"And you're the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi." Zetsu interjected.

(Naruto received the title: Jinchuriki: One who has one of 9 powerful demons sealed inside of him, but no matter how the people look at him, he still wears a mask of happiness and strives towards becoming leader of his village.)

Land of Hot Springs, shore

After many days of travel, they eventually reached a shore with a sign that said "Ruins of Uzushiogakure no sato."

And sure enough, in the distance they could see an island.

"So, Zetsu-sensei is that the island where my ka-chan came from?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, that's Uzushio, birthplace of the Uzumaki clan and also the village where you will find the Martel temple." Zetsu said.

"How are we gonna get there?" Naruto asked

"**We're gonna walk!"** Was Zetsu's reply and he walked out on the water and when he noticed that Naruto wasn't following him, he turned around "I taught you the water walking technique on the way here, didn't i?"

"W-well yes, but…" Naruto said, nervous about walking over the ocean "What if I fall into the water."

"**Don't worry. You've got a big enough supply of chakra to get you over to Uzushio and back several times."** Zetsu said and Naruto gulped before taking a nervous step onto the water and when his foot didn't go through the liquid, he ran over to Zetsu and started the two of them walked towards the island.

Land of Whirlpools, shore

Naruto and Zetsu eventually reached the island and Naruto ran up to the beach.

"So this is where my ka-chan used to live before she moved to Konoha." Naruto said as Zetsu came up beside him.

"**Yes. Now follow us so we can get this over with and you can return to the village."** Zetsu said.

The two of them then walked through a forest until they eventually came across what looked like the ruins of a temple.

"So, is that the Martel temple?" Naruto asked and Zetsu nodded.

"Yes." He said and Naruto ran towards the temple and in through the entrance.

Martel temple

Naruto and Zetsu walked into the temple and the young boy could only marvel at the design.

"Wow. I wonder who built this place." Naruto said.

"If I'd have to guess, I'd say it were the Angels themselves who built it." Zetsu said.

They were in a round room with four ways to choose from, they had come in from the way behind them, the way in front of them was sealed by a gate and the way to their left was destroyed, so that only left one option and they headed right.

After walking for a little while, they came to a staircase that went down and they walked down the stairs and into a large chamber where there was a floor that seemed to be made out of glass and there were more stairs, leading farther down towards some platforms.

"Whoa! I can see right through the floor." Naruto said as he looked down, not seeing where he was going and suddenly, he bumped into something and fell back down on the floor.

Naruto looked up at what he had bumped into to see that it was some kind of creature that was made out of stone and the creature then stomped his foot down on the blond boy, but said boy rolled out of the way and got a kunai from the pouch that Zetsu-sensei had given him, attached an explosive tag around it and through it at the creature.

The kunai hit and an explosion occurred, after the smoke faded however, the creature was still there, but it seemed to have turned into a block.

"What the…? It's a rock!" Naruto said, stating the obvious.

"Look at those holes in the ground, I believe that we have to move that rock over to one of those holes and drop it down." Zetsu said.

Naruto then started pushing the rock over to one of the holes and it dropped down and landed on the platform below. He then walked down the stairs and pushed the rock into a hole that was in between two platforms, creating a path for him and he did this again several more times and eventually, there was a path to a few stairs that led to what looked like some sort of device.

On the device there was a golden ring with a red crystal on it.

"What's this?" Naruto asked as he took the ring and put it on his finger.

"**That's the Sorcerer's ring! **Sorcerer's ring? **It's a ring that was crafted by the Angels of Cruxis to help the Chosen One in his quest."** Zetsu said.

Naruto then held out his arm and suddenly, a fire ball shot out and hit the wall.

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed before he looked down on the ring.

They then walked back to the first room, they were in and Naruto shot a fire ball on the gate that blocked the way and it opened.

"It's a dead end!" Naruto said when he saw that there was only a short hallway behind the gate that only led to a wall.

"No, you see that?" Zetsu said as he pointed to a round device of some sort that was on the ground and the two walked over to the device and onto it and suddenly they vanished.

They appeared in a big room with an altar in the middle, also the roof had been completely destroyed. Naruto walked towards the altar and suddenly came a bright light that shot straight up into the sky above.

Before Naruto's and Zetsu's eyes descended a man with long blond hair that reached down to his mid-back, a white and black robe **(A/N: It's basically the same as Remiel's except that it's white where Remiel's robe is green and black where Remiel's robe is blue.)** But the weirdest thing about him was the large black wings that came out of his back.

"Are you an Angel?" Naruto asked and the man nodded.

"**I am Lucifer, the Angel that has been assigned the task to guide you, Chosen One!"** The Angel said.

"Wow, will I be like you after I've regenerated the world, Lucifer-san?" Naruto asked and Lucifer smiled.

"**Not exactly, you'll be a little different." **Lucifer said.

Suddenly, a red light came up from the center of the alter and ascended to up to were Lucifer was floating.

"**The time has come to awaken the Goddess Martel-sama, who sleeps at the center of the world."** Lucifer said and the red light suddenly descended down to Naruto's hands and said blond grabbed it and suddenly, the light seemingly exploded and when it faded away, Naruto had a golden necklace around his neck and in the middle of it was a red crystal.

"**From this moment, Naruto becomes the Chosen of Regeneration. We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Gaia." **Lucifer said and Naruto and Zetsu looked towards were the tower would appear.

Amegakure

In the middle of the village of Ame, a huge tower that literally stretched up into the heavens suddenly appeared.

The many followers of Hanzo of the giant salamander looked at the tower in horror, wondering where it came from and how it got there.

The followers of Pain on the other hand went down on their knees and started praying as though the tower was Martel herself.

Atop the tallest tower in the village (now the second tallest) was a man with orange spiky hair, a black cloak with a red cloud pattern on it and several piercings on his face, but the most striking feature about him would be his purple eyes with four rings that are centered on the pupil like a ripple pattern.

"So, it's finally begun." He said as he looked at the tower standing in front of him.

Valley of the End

In the Valley of the End, also known as the Final Valley was Madara sitting atop the head of the Madara statue and he looked towards the tower that had just appeared.

"Seems like Zetsu did a good job in protecting him, now it's up to the others to guard him at the other four seals." He said to no one in particular before seemingly getting sucked into his eye.

Chapter preview

Hiruzen "Your mission will be to escort the bridge builder, Tazuna back to his village and guard him while he's building his bridge."

Konan "Chosen One, come with me, to the Temple of Time." **(A/N: Zelda reference, lol.)**

Naruto "Whoa…I think I just stopped time!"

Zabuza "Ah. To face the legendary Sharingan so early in our acquaintance."

Kakashi "Next time on Tales of Shippuden: An angel and a demon."

Character status

Naruto: level: 1

Techniques: none

Weapons: kunai.

Zetsu: level: 2

Techniques: Kagero.

Weapons: none

**A/N: The name of the next chapter is actually a reference to Konan and Zabuza, since Konan is known as an angel and Zabuza is known as a demon. Also Gaia is the name I decided that Naruto's world should have.**


	3. An angel and a demon

**Tales of Shippuden**

**Chosen arc**

**A/N: Before you guys read this chapter, I'd first like to say that in this story, Konan's techniques are a Kekkei Genkai, and since there are no names for her paper style (at least not to my knowledge) I decided to call her Kekkei Genkai Origami.**

"Chosen One." Normal speech

'_Chosen One.' _Normal thought

"**Chosen One." Biju, Angel and summoning speech**

'_**Chosen One.'**_** Biju, Angel, inner Sakura and summoning thought**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

Chapter 2: An angel and a demon

Naruto had been gone from the village for 2 weeks and after returning, he learned that the Sandaime had been really worried for him, but Naruto couldn't tell anyone where he had been.

Many people wondered of course where he had gotten the ring and the necklace from, but they didn't bother to ask him, not that he wouldn't have told them anyway.

It had been 5 years since then and Naruto hadn't heard anything from Zetsu-sensei or any other Akatsuki members, though right now he didn't really care about that because he had finally graduated from the ninja academy and right now he was in the classroom, together with all the other graduates, waiting to be put into a team.

"Cell number 7: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto…" Iruka said and Naruto cheered for being put in the same team as his crush while she slumped and thought that she would die while Iruka continued "…and Uchiha Sasuke." This time Naruto's and Sakura's reactions were reversed.

"Cell number 8: Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino." Iruka said before announcing the members of cell number 9, but they aren't important seeing as though they won't get through the genin exam.

"Cell number 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji." Iruka announced the members of the last team and now there was a break until the teams would be picked up by their senseis.

Naruto had changed his outfit since his little adventure to Uzushio. Now he had an orange jumpsuit with blue shoulders and the Uzumaki clan crest on his back, he also had orange pants, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate on his forehead with the Konoha insignia on it.

Sakura had long pink hair, emerald green eyes, red clothes with the Haruno clan crest on the back, green shorts, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia was tied up in her hair like a ribbon.

Sasuke had black hair that slightly resembled a duck's rear end, he had equally black eyes, he strangely enough also had pointy ears he wore a dark-blue t-skirt with the Uchiha clan crest on the back, white shorts, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia on his forehead.

Kiba had spiky brown hair, though it was hard to tell under the hood of his grey jacket, he had slits for pupils and red fang tattoos on his cheeks. He also had dark-grey pants, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia on his forehead.

Hinata had short dark-blue hair, completely white eyes, just like Sasuke, she also had pointy ears, a white jacket, blue pants, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia on it around her neck.

Shino had spiky black hair, sunglasses, he wore a grey jacket, brown pants, blue shinobi sandals and he had a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia on it on his forehead.

Ino had long blond hair in a ponytail and one bang that was over her right eye, she had green eyes, purple clothes, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia around her waist.

Shikamaru had black hair in a ponytail, lazy black eyes, a grey jacket with a fishnet shirt underneath, brown pants, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia on his left bicep.

Choji had brown hair, black eyes, a green jacket with a white t-skirt underneath with the kanji for food on it. He was also a little fat, had brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals and a Hitai-ate with the Konoha insignia on his forehead.

After the break, everyone walked back into the classroom to wait for their senseis and one by one, the senseis came and left with their teams and eventually, only team 7 was left, even Iruka had already left.

"How long is he going to keep us waiting like this?" Naruto said before he got an idea and he took a rubber, slightly opened the door and put the rubber in the top of the crack and shortly after their sensei finally came and the rubber fell right down on his head.

'_This is our jonin sensei?'_ Sasuke thought as he wondered how a jonin would fall for such a trap.

"Sorry sensei, I tried to stop him." Sakura said, but her inner self had slightly other thoughts **'Hell yeah, that was awesome.'**

"Okay, my first impression of you is…I hate you!" Their sensei said and they frowned. He had silver hair, a chunin/jonin uniform and his Hitai-ate was diagonally going over his face, covering his left eye and he also had a mask over most of the lower part of his face, leaving only his right eye and a little part of his face around it visible.

Soon after they were on the roof of the academy.

"Since we don't know that much about each other, I think we should introduce ourselves. Tell me your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future." The sensei said as he looked down on the three.

"Why don't you demonstrate, sensei?" Sakura suggested and their sensei sighed.

"My name's Hatake Kakashi, my likes…I don't really want to talk about that. My dislikes…I don't wanna talk about that either. My hobbies…I don't feel like telling and my dreams of the future aren't any of your business." Kakashi said.

"Hey, he said a lot, but all we really did learn was his name." Sakura whispered to the others.

"Why don't we start with you on the right." Kakashi said as he pointed at Sasuke.

"My name's Uchiha Sasuke, I don't feel like talking about my dislikes, not that it matters considering that there's almost nothing I do like. I don't have any dreams, that's just a word to me, but what I do have is determination. I plan to restore my clan and there is someone I have sworn…to kill!" Sasuke said and different thoughts went through everyone.

'_I hope it's not me.'_ Naruto thought.

'_Wow, Sasuke-kun is so cool.' _Sakura thought.

'_I knew it.'_ Kakashi thought before he pointed at Naruto "Your turn."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, but what I like even more is when Iruka-sensei treats me. what I dislike is the three minute wait till when the ramen's finished." Naruto said.

'_He don't appear to have anything else on his mind but ramen.'_ Kakashi thought.

"My dream is to one day become the next Hokage, then everyone in the village will stop looking down on me and start treating me like somebody, somebody important." Naruto continued.

'_Hm, well there's something.' _Kakashi thought.

"My hobbies are pranks and practical jokes, I guess." Naruto finished.

"I see, next." Kakashi said.

"My name's Haruno Sakura, my likes, well it's not something, but someone and who I like is…" Sakura started before glancing over at Sasuke and she started giggling before she continued "My dreams for the future…" She giggled even more.

'_She doesn't appear to have anything else on her mind but boys.'_ Kakashi thought.

"I hate Naruto!" Sakura nearly shouted.

"WHAT?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Alright, meet me tomorrow morning at training field three and we'll go through the genin exams." Kakashi said.

"Wait, the genin exams?" Sakura asked.

"You see, out of all of the 30 graduates, only nine gets to become genin while the others are sent back to the academy." Kakashi said.

"But then, what was the graduation exam about?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, well that was to root out the hopeless cases." Kakashi answered before remembering something "Oh and by the way, unless you wanna throw up, you better not eat any breakfast tomorrow."

The next day, training field three

**(A/N: I won't go into details here 'cause it's pretty much just like canon.)**

The three of them met at the training field in the morning and they had to wait several hours before Kakashi finally showed up and after that they had to try and take one of two bells that were hanging from his vest, but in the end all of them failed to get a bell and Naruto got tied to a stump while Sasuke and Sakura got lunch. Kakashi had told them to not give anything to Naruto, but in the end both offered some of their food to the blond Chosen believing that Kakashi was too far away to notice, but just then said jonin came at them and told them that they passed.

The three pre-teens got confused at this, but Kakashi explained that the whole purpose behind the bell test was to cooperate with one-another and the point of the second test was to defy the rules of not giving Naruto any food because shinobi that breaks the rules are scum, but shinobi that abandon their friends are even lower than scum.

(Naruto received the title: Genin: One who has made it through the ninja academy and is now among the ranks of the shinobi, but he's still got a long way to go.)

(Sasuke received the title: Genin: One who has made it through the ninja academy and is now among the ranks of the shinobi, but he's still got a long way to go.)

(Sakura received the title: Genin: One who has made it through the ninja academy and is now among the ranks of the shinobi, but she's still got a long way to go.)

Hokage tower, one month later

Team 7 was in the room in the Hokage tower where they received missions, but so far all they've had are lousy D-rank mission A.K.A chores and Naruto's had enough.

"No, no, no. No more boring missions, I want something more challenging, where I can test my skills." Naruto all but yelled.

"Now listen here Naruto, you've just graduated out of the academy. Ninja missions are divided into ranks of D through S and genin like yourself only get D and C-ranked missions." Iruka said.

"Very well, I do have a C-ranked mission here that you could do." The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen said to Iruka's shock.

Then an old man came into the room and looked at the team of genin.

"What? I'm being entrusted to a bunch of kids?" The man said.

"Your mission will be to escort the bridge builder, Tazuna back to his village and guard him while he's building his bridge." Hiruzen said.

Land of Waves

After leaving Konoha it didn't take long before the group got attacked by two missing-nins from Kiri, known as the Oni-brothers, but they were taken out by Kakashi.

However it seemed that Tazuna had lied about the danger of the mission and it was upped to an A-rank instead.

Apparently the Land of Waves was under the control of a corrupt business man named Gato. And he had apparently hired skilled ninja to take care of Tazuna.

As they walked down a road in the Land of Waves, a huge sword suddenly came at them and imbedded itself in a tree and on the sword appeared a man that had the lower half of his head covered in bandages, grey pants and a Hitai-ate with the Kiri insignia on his forehead.

'_That looks like…'_ Kakashi thought before speaking up "Well, well. If it isn't Momochi Zabuza, the kid who ran off and left Kirigakure no sato." Kakashi then moved his hand up to his Hitai-ate '_And if I am to face him, it had better be…'_ He then pulled the Hitai-ate up while saying "…like this. This may be a little rough."

"Sharingan no Kakashi, I presume? If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you surrender the old man?" Zabuza said.

'_The Sharingan?'_ Sasuke thought in disbelief, how could a non-Uchiha possess the Sharingan?

"Assume the manji battle formation! Protect Tazuna-san. All of you, stay out of the fight. That's the kind of teamwork this situation demands." Kakashi said as he continued to lift his Hitai-ate until his left eye was visible and everyone could see that his left eye was red and had three comma-like marks in it.

"Ah. To face the legendary Sharingan so early in our acquaintance. This is an honor. When I was an assassin for Kirigakure, I possessed the usual Bingo-book. It had quite the extensive write-up on you. Including a mention of your impressive record. The man who had penetrated and copied over a thousand jutsus. Kakashi the copy-ninja." Zabuza said.

(Kakashi received the title: Copy-ninja: A man who has copied over a thousand jutsus, is there any technique that he can't learn?)

'_But he's…Kakashi-sensei is just…is he that amazing?' _Sakura thought.

'_But, does it mean…supposed to be unique to the Uchiha clan. Could he be…?'_ Sasuke thought.

"Enough. Pleasant as this conversation has been, the time for talk is over. I'm on a very tight schedule to polish off the old man. But…Kakashi, it looks like I'm going to have to kill you first." Zabuza said before jumping off the sword, taking it with him and landing on a nearby lake.

Zabuza stood on the water, holding one hand in front of him and the other is pointing up and both hands have formed half the tora sign.

"Kirigakure no jutsu." Zabuza announced the name of his jutsu and suddenly, a thick mist seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"He's gone!" Sakura said in surprise.

"He will come after me first…Momochi Zabuza of the Kirigakure assassin corps is a famous master of the art of silent killing. Letting your guard down around him buys you a direct trip to heaven. I haven't necessarily mastered every aspect of the Sharingan, so all of you stay on your toes!" Kakashi said.

"There are eight targets. Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidney, heart. So many choices. What vital, vulnerable place shall I choose? Heh heh." Zabuza's voice sounded through the mist.

Kakashi quickly made a hand sign and he noticed that Sasuke was quite nervous about the situation.

"Sasuke. Calm down. Even if he gets me. I'll still protect you. I will never let my comrades die." Kakashi said, giving an eye-smile.

"I wouldn't bet on that." Zabuza's voice came…from the middle of the formation "Game over."

Zabuza then swung his sword, but to everyone's surprise, Naruto quickly turned around and blocked the huge sword with a kunai. Naruto made sure that the Sorcerer's ring was pointing at Zabuza and suddenly, a fire ball shot out of the red stone.

The fire ball hit Zabuza, but said "demon" turned into water and the real Zabuza then appeared behind the blond.

"Very well then. If you want to go first then be my guest." Zabuza said before swinging his sword at Naruto, but Kakashi suddenly appeared in between them, pushed Naruto away and took the blow.

Suddenly Kakashi turned into water, surprising Zabuza.

'_A Mizu Bunshin? He was able to copy me in this mist?' _ Zabuza thought and suddenly he felt a kunai at his throat.

"Don't move. Game over." Kakashi said from behind Zabuza.

"You think it's over? You just don't get it. It will take more to defeat me than mimicking me like an ape…a lot more." Zabuza confidently said before continuing "But you are good! In that short time, you duplicated my Mizu Bunshin no jutsu. And by making your Bunshin say something you'd have said yourself, you ensured all my attention would be focused on it while you yourself used the Kirigakure no jutsu, watching my every move!"

"Too bad for you…" Zabuza continued, but then Kakashi heard a voice behind him "…I am not that easy to fool!"

Suddenly the Zabuza that was in front of Kakashi turned into water, surprising every one.

Zabuza swung his sword, but Kakashi ducked under it and the huge sword went into the ground and Zabuza quickly let go of the end of the hilt, before grabbing it with his left hand as he turned around and kicked Kakashi away.

Kakashi landed in the lake, but when he tried getting up again, Zabuza weaved a sequence of hand signs.

"Suiton: Suiro no jutsu." Zabuza said and suddenly a prison of water came from Zabuza's palm and went around Kakashi.

"That prison is inescapable. You're trapped. You running around free makes it to hard for me to do my job. I'll finish you later, after I've dealt with all the others." Zabuza said before forming half the tora sign with his left hand.

"Mizu Bunshin no jutsu." Zabuza said and suddenly, a second Zabuza rose up from the water.

"Little ninja wannabe. Trying so hard to fit in, you even wear a Hitai-ate. But a true ninja is one who has crossed and recrossed the barrier between the lands of the living and the dead. Clothes don't make a shinobi. You need skills good enough to rate a listing in my Bingo-book of enemies before you deserve to be called ninja. We don't call your kind "ninja" we call them…" The Bunshin said, before vanishing and reappearing right in front of Naruto to kick him, but Naruto manages to duck under the kick and deliver an upper cut to the Bunshin's head while simultaneously firing a fire ball out of his ring and the Bunshin turned into water.

"Hm, you're better than I expected!" Zabuza said, but then Naruto burst into a puff of smoke.

'_Kage Bunshin? At his age and rank? Interesting.'_ Zabuza thought and suddenly he felt something, coming at him from behind and he moved his head to the left just as a kunai flew past.

'_You thought you could…'_ Zabuza thought, but then he noticed the explosive tag attached to the knife '_What?'_

The kunai blew up and Zabuza who had to release the Suiro, landed on the water away from the explosion while Kakashi and Naruto was on the other side of the lake.

Zabuza and Kakashi, both started to weave the exact same sequence of hand signs, ending on the tori sign.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu." Both announced the name of the same jutsu and two dragons, made out of water came up and clashed against each other.

Kakashi and Zabuza then leaped towards each other and Kakashi blocked Zabuza's sword with a kunai.

'_Something isn't right…' _Zabuza thought before he and Kakashi pushed away from one-another '_He's…'_

They then started running in a quart circle around each other before stopping and they both made the Kirigakure hand sign before they lowered their left arms.

'_All of my moves, my gestures, he sees…'_ Zabuza thought.

"…through them all!" Kakashi finished for him.

'_What? He's reading my mind? Curse him! He's…'_ Zabuza thought as he weaved a hand sign.

"…got that evil look in his eye. Right?" Kakashi once again finished for him after weaving the same sign as Zabuza.

"Feh, you're a pale imitation." Zabuza said, but when he continued, it was both him and Kakashi talking "I'm the genuine article. No mere copycat stands a chance against me."

"You mimic me like a parrot! I'll close your beak for good!" Zabuza yelled while weaving a series of hand signs, but Kakashi weaved the same signs.

'_I-it's…me?' _Zabuza thought as he saw himself standing there instead of Kakashi, it was almost like fighting himself.

'_But th-that's impossible! Is this another of his illusions?' _Zabuza thought just before Kakashi finished the sequence of hand signs before him.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu." Kakashi said and Zabuza could see the three commas in Kakashi's Sharingan spinning.

(Kakashi received the title: Sharingan warrior: One who has mastered the Dojutsu known as the Sharingan even though he's not an Uchiha, but that power still comes with a price.)

'_This is absurd! Before I could even finish my Ninjutsu, he used the same jutsu against me!'_ Zabuza thought as he was hit by a great torrent of water and he was splashed up against a tree.

"That's that." Kakashi said as he landed on a branch on the tree.

"What? Can you see the future?" Zabuza asked as Kakashi raised his kunai.

"I foresee your death." The copy- ninja said, but before he could do anything, two senbon flew through the air and straight into Zabuza's neck.

Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke looked up at where the senbon had come from to see a young man that couldn't be much older than the three genin, wearing a green kimono and he had a mask with Kiri's insignia on the top.

"Your prediction came true." The masked kid said before Kakashi jumped down to check Zabuza's pulse.

'_WAY dead.' _Kakashi thought before looking up at the one who had killed the swordsman.

"Thank you for your help. I hope you don't mind my interfering, but I wanted the satisfaction of putting Zabuza out of his misery myself!" The kid said.

"The mask is familiar…Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a shinobi hunter from Kirigakure?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, aren't you the smart one? I am indeed, a member of the elite tracking unit from Kirigakure it is our responsibility and our art to hunt down and deal with the rogues and the outlaws." The hunter-nin said.

'_Judging by his appearance and the timbre of his voice, he couldn't be much older than Naruto or my other students, yet…he's already a full-fledged shinobi hunter! He's not your average kid, that's for sure!_' Kakashi thought.

The hunter-nin shunshined down to Zabuza's body and lifted it up before forming a hand sign with his right hand.

"Your battle is over, for now. And the remains must be disposed of lest they give up secrets to our foes. Well then, I must be off." The hunter-nin said before shunshining away.

Kakashi then pulled down his Hitai-ate while letting out a sigh of relief, glad that it was finally over.

"Now! We still have to escort Tazuna-san the rest of the way to his home. Let's put our best feet forward!" Kakashi said.

"Ha-ha-hah! You poor kids, you must be so humiliated! But never mind. You can lick your wounds at my house." Tazuna said just before Kakashi collapsed on the ground from over-using the Sharingan.

"What? Huh…? What's happening?" Sakura yelled.

'_I can't budge._ _I must have used the Sharingan too much.' _Kakashi thought.

After they had gotten to Tazuna's they met Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami and her son Inari. Having a feeling that Zabuza was still alive and the hunter-nin was an associate of his, Kakashi decided to teach the three genin the tree-climbing exercise. Sakura and Naruto, made it to the top of the tree on their first try, surprising both Kakashi and Sasuke.

What none of the others knew of course was that Naruto learned the tree-climbing exercise when he was 7 since Zetsu had taught it to him.

Most of the next week did go uneventful except for one thing involving a certain blond Chosen.

Land of Waves, forest

Naruto was in the forest, sparring with one of his Kage Bunshins, but suddenly came a swarm of birds…made out of paper.

"What the…?" The Bunshin said before puffing out of existence.

Naruto then turned around to see that the paper birds flew into each other and formed a woman with blue hair, orange eyes, a paper flower in the hair and she was wearing a black cloak with a red cloud pattern.

'_Akatsuki!'_ Naruto thought.

"Hello young Chosen One. I am Akatsuki no Konan." Konan said.

(Konan received the title: Akatsuki no Konan: As one of the three founding members of the Akatsuki, she's the partner of the leader and an expert with Origami jutsu.)

"Wait. I thought Zetsu-sensei said that there would be two Akatsuki members." Naruto said.

"There will be two of us the other times, but this time it's just me." Konan said.

"So, where's the seal, Konan-sensei?" Naruto asked excitedly and Konan walked into further into the forest before stopping and looking over her shoulder.

"Chosen One, come with me, to the Temple of Time." Konan said and Naruto walked after her as they headed towards the seal.

"The Temple of Time?" Naruto asked.

"The Temple of Time is an ancient structure that has survived the tests of time and it is also said to hold artifacts from the past, present and even the future." Konan said.

"The future?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Konan replied.

"Say, Konan-sensei. Could you teach me that thing that you did earlier?" Naruto asked.

"You want to learn how to do Origami jutsus?" Konan asked.

"Yes, please." Naruto said while nodding.

"Actually it's a Kekkei Genkai. So those who are not related to me won't be able to learn it!" Konan said, but when she noticed that Naruto's head slumped, she continued "But you are the Chosen One, I'm sure you should be able to learn it. After all, I've heard that some Chosen Ones are even able to learn Kekkei Genkais."

Naruto's face brightened up at that and Konan then handed him a slip of paper.

"Now channel chakra through it and try to form it into any shape you want." Konan said and Naruto did as he was told, but it proved to be a little harder than he had anticipated.

After several minutes Naruto had finally done it and the slip of paper had become a bird which then took flight.

"Look Konan-sensei I did it!" Naruto said as he pointed up at the paper bird.

"Good work, Chosen One. I knew that you could do it." Konan said.

They then came up to a large building which, even though they were in the middle of a forest, was completely unaffected by the elements.

"Whoa, is that the temple?" Naruto asked as he walked towards it.

"Yes." Konan said and she opened the massive door.

Temple of Time

Naruto and Konan walked into a big room and marveled at the design. The room was big and rectangular, it had white walls, in the middle was some sort of device and there were three doors excluding the entrance, the doors were guarded by some kind of force field though.

The two walked over to the device and Naruto touched and suddenly his ring glowed before the stone changed colour from red to silver and inside the stone the kanji for fire, which Naruto strangely enough hadn't noticed till now, changed into the kanji for time.

The force field in front of the door to their left disappeared and the door opened, but before Naruto and Konan could walk through it, it closed again before once again opening and quickly closing.

"I suggest you use that ring!" Konan said and Naruto activated the ring, but nothing appeared to have happened except that when Naruto activated the ring, the door was closing again, but it completely stopped moving.

"Whoa…I think I just stopped time!" Naruto said.

The two of them walked through the door and once they were on the other side, Naruto deactivated the ring and time resumed.

They were now in a tall, round room with stairs along the walls and the two walked down the stairs until they had reached the bottom where there were a lot of pedestals.

Naruto walked over to a pedestal that had some weird bracelet on it and the name of the artifact was written just below it.

"Bodhi Blastia. What the heck's Blastia?" Naruto said.

"We should move on." Konan said.

"Right." Naruto said before following the woman, but he stopped when he noticed a sword that caught his eye.

Naruto walked over to the sword and picked it up before looking down on the pedestal to see what the sword's name was.

"Dein Nomos." He read before looking at the sword and then following Konan, with the sword in hand. **(A/N: In case you didn't know, the events of Tales of Vesperia happened about 10.000 years before Tales of Symphonia.)**

Naruto and Konan entered a large room and suddenly some earth in the middle of the room rose up and formed into a person and Konan's eyes widened.

Before them stood a man with long black hair, black eyes and red armor.

"S-Senju Hashirama!" Konan said.

"Senju Hashirama? You mean the Shodai Hokage?" Naruto asked and Konan nodded.

"Yes." Konan answered and Naruto gulped.

"Where am I? And who're you two?" Hashirama asked.

"You're in the Temple of Time! I am Akatsuki no Konan and this is the Chosen One, Uzumaki Naruto." Konan said.

"The Temple of Time, you say? Well that explains it. That must mean that I was brought back to test the Chosen's strength!" Hashirama said.

"Wait, won't that be a little too much? There's no way that I can defeat you." Naruto said.

"Don't worry, this is not the real me, you can't resurrect a dead man after all. I am only a representation, made by the temple to test you! My powers don't even come anywhere close to the real Hashirama!" Hashirama said and Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

Hashirama then weaved several hand signs and suddenly, wood started coming up of the floor and the two started avoiding the roots.

Naruto sliced Dein Nomos straight through the roots and was surprised at how easy it was. He then started running towards Hashirama, but said Mokuton user made a root come up under Naruto's feet.

Naruto lost balance for a second, but it didn't last long and then he jumped at the Shodai, but Hashirama dodged it and he weaved several hand signs, but when he finished the sequence, nothing happened.

Naruto then swung the sword and sliced Hashirama in two and the Shodai then turned back into earth.

"I did it! I defeated thee Shodai Hokage!" Naruto said before smirking "Just wait till I tell Sasuke this!"

"You know that you can't tell him!" Konan said and Naruto turned towards her.

"Hey, why weren't you helping?" He asked.

"This is supposed to be your test. I had no right in interfering!" Konan stated.

Seeing as though there weren't any other ways to go, Naruto and Konan headed back to the first room to see that the door on the other side of the room was open and the force field was gone.

They walked through the door and on the other side was a great bottom-less chasm and on the other side of it was a door that probably led to the next room.

Naruto looked around and found a weird silver stone standing next to the door and as he touched it, the entire room changed.

The chasm was now gone and it was possible to walk to the other side.

When they reached the other side of the room, they walked through the door and they entered the next room which seemed to be a museum, just like the room where Naruto had found Dein Nomos.

Naruto walked over to a pedestal which held a small red stone and he read the name.

"Exsphere! Hm, I wonder what that is." Naruto said as he walked after Konan into the next room.

The next room was identical to the one that they faced Hashirama in and they noticed some earth in the middle of the room that rose up and formed into a man and Naruto's eyes widened.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said surprised, he had never expected Kakashi-sensei to be his opponent.

"Naruto? What's going on here? And who are you?" Kakashi asked, the last question being directed at Konan.

"I am Akatsuki no Konan! And you're not the real Kakashi, only a duplicate, created by the Temple of Time to test the strength of the Chosen One!" Konan said.

"So, in other words, I have to fight Naruto?" Kakashi said and Konan nodded.

"Come on, sensei. Let's see what you've got!" Naruto said as he readied his sword.

Kakashi and Naruto charged at one-another and Naruto swung his sword at the jonin, but said jonin blocked it with a kunai.

"You have to do better than that, Naruto!" Kakashi said, but then he could see that Naruto's ring seemed to glow for a second and before he knew it, Naruto had kicked him in the…back?

Kakashi was sent a few feet away from Naruto's kick, but he quickly turned around as he weaved a sequence of hand signs.

"Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu." He blew a fire ball at Naruto, but before he knew it, said blond was…behind him?

Kakashi jumped away from Naruto and pulled up his Hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan, but Naruto was…gone?

'_How did he get so fast? I can't follow his movements, not even with the Sharingan!'_ Kakashi thought before he felt a strong punch hit him on his cheek and he was sent flying into a nearby wall.

As Kakashi started to get up on his feet, he noticed that Naruto was already standing in front of him and he tried to punch Naruto, but just before his punch could hit, he noticed that the silver stone on Naruto's finger started glowing and said blond vanished. Wait wasn't that stone red before?

Naruto then appeared beside him and he managed to jump away just in time to avoid Naruto's sword.

'_Before that ring shot out fire balls, but now it appears to be making even faster than sensei, or…'_ Kakashi thought as he remembered what Konan had said earlier.

"I am Akatsuki no Konan! And you're not the real Kakashi, only a duplicate, created by the Temple of Time to test the strength of the Chosen One!"

'_Temple of Time…! That's it! That ring must've somehow gained the ability to stop the flow of time! As long as Naruto has that ring, he's got the most effective Space-time Ninjutsu in the world!'_ Kakashi thought.

He then weaved a couple of hand signs and started charging lightning chakra into his right hand.

"Raikiri." Kakashi called out as his hand was engulfed in lightning and he rushed at the blond Chosen.

Naruto disappeared before Kakashi could hit him and suddenly a sword came out the copy-nin's chest and he turned to earth.

"It's a good thing that these guys are weaker than the real deal." Naruto said.

"We should return to the entrance, the last door must've opened now." Konan said as the two of them headed back.

When they returned, they saw that the last door was indeed open and the force field had disappeared.

They walked through the door and into a round and tall room with stairs going up along the walls, in the middle of the room was several pedestals with strange devices on them and Naruto picked up one of the devices and he pressed what looked like a trigger and suddenly several red lights shot out of the device.

Naruto then dropped the device on the ground and followed Konan up the stairs, he didn't even bother to check what the device was called. The writing on the pedestal read "Blaster Rifle."

When the two had gotten up to the top of the stairs, they entered through a door and came into another room like the ones where Naruto had fought Hashirama and Kakashi.

In the middle of the room was a pile of earth which formed into someone that neither Naruto nor Konan recognized.

The man had brown hair, a red bandana, white armor, black pants, a crimson cape and his sword, instead of having just one hilt, strangely enough had a second hilt that came out of the flat side of the sword.

"Who're you?" Naruto asked.

"I'm Cress Albane." The man said.

Chapter preview

Cress "Naruto, you're stronger than you look."

Naruto "Wow. I can fly!"

Zabuza "It seems the brat has matured into a worthy rival…eh, Haku?"

Inari "You get away from my ka-chan!"

Haku "Next time on Tales of Shippuden: Battle on the bridge."

Character select

Naruto: Level: 4

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken, Dein Nomos.

Sasuke: Level: 3

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan (Not unlocked yet).

Sakura: Level: 1

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kakashi: Level: 23 (Kakashi replica) 5

Techniques: Raikiri, Magen: Narakumi, Doton: Shinju zanshu, Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Moguragakure, Fuja hoin, Katon: Goukakyo, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Kirigakure, Raiton: Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Sennen Goroshi, Kage Bunshin, Sairento kiringu, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga, Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suijinheki, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Zabuza: Level: 21

Techniques: Kirigakure, Mizu Bunshin, Sairento Kiringu, Suiro, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: Kubikiribocho.

Konan: Level: 35

Techniques: Shikigami no mai, Kami Bunshin, Kami no shisha, Kami shuriken, Kami chakram.

Weapons: none

Kekkei Genkai: Origami.

Hashirama: Level: 4

Techniques: Moku Bunshin, Kokuangyo, Keiyaku fuin, Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu, Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai kotan, Mokuton: Kajukai korin, Mokuton: Daijurin, Mokuton: Mokujiheki.

Weapons: none

Kekkei Genkai: Mokuton.

**A/N: I was originally planning on having this chapter go through the entire wave mission, but I'm going on summer vacation tomorrow, so I was running out of time. Even though I'll be gone for three weeks, I won't stop writing, but I don't know when I'll be able to update. Also next week I'll be concentrating on my Naruto/Avatar crossover, Naruto: the legend of Aang. The week after that it'll be my Naruto/Rinnegan story, Naruto: Rinnegan Jinchuriki. And after that on the last week during the vacation it'll be my Naruto/Blue Dragon crossover, Naruto's blue dragon. Also since I've had to shorten this chapter a little, I've changed last chapter's chapter preview slightly.**


	4. Battle on the bridge

**Tales of Shippuden**

**Chosen arc**

**Kurama no Kyubi:** If you guys have read Dragon Ball Shippuden or Naruto: Path of Radiance, you'd know that the authors note will be like this from now on. And I will also answer any questions that you guys might have, so feel free to ask whatever's on your minds. Well, that's all, now on to the reviews.

**Naruto:** Hey, you forgot to tell them about that other thing!

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Oh, right. If you've read Naruto: Path of Radiance, you'd already know this, but I'm no longer concentrating a different story each week, now I'm concentrating on one story until I've either gotten done writing the current arc or until a month has passed. Now, as I said before, on to the reviews.

**ddcj1990:** Sweet great first chapter I really like it very much I cant wait for the next chapter also can you have Naruto paired with Sheena or Samui

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Sorry, but no. He won't be paired with either of them.

**windfox90:** Good job I like it can you have Naruto paired with Sheena

**Kurama no Kyubi:** As I told ddcj1990, no, he won't be paired with Sheena. Quite frankly, I don't know why that pairing's so popular.

**jgreek:** good story so far keep it up

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Thank you, I will.

**azure37410:** This is a great idea! I can't wait to read more! One question, though. Did the events of Tales of Symphonia happen in this fanfiction? Or did Colette just make the mana flow to Sylverant instead of saving both worlds?

**Kurama no Kyubi:** In this fanfic, there's three worlds, not just two. And as for your question, yes Colette's journey will happen in this story… not yet though, you've got to wait for the next arc.

**kalakauai:** Naruto does have the same traits as Colette does, as well as most of the character of the tales series. Blue eyes, Yellow/Blond hair... But taking the role As the chosen? I was thinking he would be a playable character you meet later in the story/game...

**Kurama no Kyubi:** You're right, he does possess those traits. Also I did have a reason to making him the chosen, besides who else would fit to be the Chosen of Gaia other than the "Child of Prophecy"?

**Wolfpackersson09:** This is still interesting. Since Naruto got Dein Nomos so early I would guess that the Temple of Time weakened it to reasonable levels which include being a minor upgrade. I would suggest that Naruto either have Yuri or Estelle's artes list, but I lean more towards having Naruto with Yuri's Arte list and Sakura having Estelle's Arte list. Sakura just screams Estelle to me for some reason.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** That wasn't the real Dein Nomos, just some apparition created by the Temple of Time, it'll vanish the moment Naruto and Konan leaves the temple. Though I will consider possibly giving him Yuri's arte list, but he will have some of Cress' Lloyd's, Kratos' and even a few of Colette's artes as well. And the reason why Sakura screams Estelle to you might be because of the pink hair.

**azure37410:** This fanfiction seems kind of rushed to me.

**Naruto:** Trust me, if the last chapter hadn't been rushed, it wouldn't have been done in time and it might have been that chapter that had just been updated.

**kalakauai:** ... Uhh Vesperia and Phantasia?

**Kurama no Kyubi:** I don't know if you know this already, but all of the Tales games actually occur in the same world, just in different time periods. And there are only three of the main games where I know how much time has passed in between them and those are: Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Phantasia. Tales of Vesperia is about 10.000 years before Tales of Symphonia while Tales of Phantasia is about 4.000 years after. Also the Temple of Time has artifacts that are from the past, present and future, so you shouldn't be surprised why Dein Nomos is in that temple. Also, anyone who enters the temple will have to face three opponents, one from the past, one from the present and one from the future, hence why Cress is the final opponent.

**Naruto: **Now, let's get on with the story.

"Chosen One." Normal speech

'_Chosen One.'_ Normal thought

"**Chosen One." Biju, Angel and summoning speech**

'_**Chosen One.' **_**Biju, Angel and summoning thought**

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is owned by Kishimoto Masashi-san and the Tales series is owned by Namco.

Chapter 3: Battle on the bridge

In the forest of the Land of Waves was Sasuke running up a tree, but suddenly he lost his footing and he slashed the bark with the kunai he was holding and he landed down on the ground.

'_Tch, I still can't believe that the dope could do it so easily_.' Sasuke thought before he looked around "Where is he anyway?"

Suddenly he noticed a weird bird that flew by over him, upon closer inspection he noticed that the bird was…made of paper?

He couldn't describe it, but there was something familiar about the bird, so he decided to follow it…in the direction of the Temple of Time.

Temple of Time

The sound of swords clashing filled the air and Naruto and Cress jumped away from each other before Naruto formed the tora hand sign and the silver stone on his ring turned red. He then pointed it at Cress and launched a fire ball out of it.

"Guardian." Cress said as he held his sword in front of him and a barrier appeared around him, protecting him from the fire ball.

"Naruto, you're stronger than you look." Cress complimented before he swung his sword downwards.

"Take this. Demon Fang." Cress called out and a shockwave of chakra was sent in the direction of Naruto, but said blond jumped out of the way of the arte before swinging his own sword down.

"Demon Fang." Naruto called out the attack, how he knew it you may ask, well Cress taught it to him before the battle started.

Cress jumped out of the way before charging at the young Chosen and he swung his sword at Naruto, but said blond block with his own sword and pointed the Sorcerer's ring at Cress.

Cress pushed back and just barely managed to dodge the fire ball as Naruto stabbed Dein Nomos into the ground and made his favorite hand sign.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Cress' eyes widened as he was surrounded by ten Narutos, each one having their own Dein Nomos.

All of the Narutos charged at Cress, but as they closed in on him, a shockwave shot out in every direction and all Narutos was thrown back and the nine clones puffed out of existence.

Naruto got up on his feet and saw that Cress was engulfed by a multi-colored light. **(A/N: Vesperia style Over-Limit.)**

Cress charged at Naruto as said blond formed the dragon hand sign and the red stone on his ring changed back to being silver and it started glowing before Naruto suddenly vanished from Cress' vision.

From Naruto's point of view, Cress was standing completely still, however time hadn't stopped completely, he had learned that in his battle with Kakashi. Time had only slowed down to the point where one minute for Naruto would be considered one second in real-time.

Naruto moved in to punch his opponent, but to his surprise…Cress dodged it?

Over-Limit was an incredible technique, it had saved Cress and his friends on several occasions, it increased all the body's senses and abilities.

Naruto returned back to real time and he swung his sword downward.

"Demon Fang." He called out and Cress, who had managed to gain some distance, retaliated by using the exact same arte and the two shockwaves impacted with one-another, creating a large explosion.

Land of Waves, forest

Haku, Zabuza's associate walked through the forest, he had quite a feminine look, long black hair and he wore a green kimono.

He had gone to find some herbs for Zabuza.

As he looked up, he noticed Sasuke, walking through the forest and out of curiosity, he followed the raven-haired boy.

Soon after Sasuke reached some sort of temple and Haku could see that there was a paper bird that landed just above the door as if signaling the young genin to enter.

Sasuke started walking towards the door, but suddenly he heard what sounded like a twig snapping and he turned around.

"Who's there?" He asked and Haku walked out from his hiding place.

"Sorry for spying on you, but I saw you in the forest and wondered where you were going." Haku said.

'_His voice…he's that kid, working with Zabuza!'_ Sasuke thought, recognizing the "hunter-nin's" voice.

"I'm Haku by the way!" Haku said.

"Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasuke said, not planning on giving up too much information.

'_Uchiha? Isn't that the clan that possesses the Sharingan? I heard that it had been wiped out and there were supposedly only one survivor! Guess that must be him.' _Haku thought.

"So, tell me! What's someone like you doing out here?" Sasuke asked '_If I can get him talking, I might find out something about him and his master.'_

"I'm out, picking herbs." Haku said.

"Herbs?" Sasuke asked, pretending to wonder why '_Of course, Kakashi did quite a number on his master._'

"A friend of mine got injured a few days ago, so I'm collecting herbs to heal his wounds." Haku said.

"Any idea, when he'll be fully recovered?" Sasuke asked, pretending to look concerned '_This is great, if we know when Zabuza will be back on his feet then we can prepare for him more efficiently.'_

"Hopefully he'll be recovered by tomorrow." Haku said.

'_Tomorrow? That isn't good, I've got to hurry and finish my training.' _Sasuke thought.

"Say, why are you all the way out here?" Haku asked.

"Training." Sasuke said.

"Oh, why? You already seem pretty strong to me!" Haku said.

"I'm still not strong enough." Sasuke said.

"Strong enough for what?" Haku asked.

"That's none of your business!" Sasuke said before turning around and walking towards the door to the temple.

"Tell me, is there someone important in your life?" Haku asked.

"What?" Sasuke asked as he stopped.

"Is there someone precious to you?" Haku asked as he started walking towards Sasuke "I believe that when people are protecting someone precious to them, they truly can become as strong as they must be!"

For a moment Sasuke thought about Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, but then his thoughts trailed off to his parents, his brother and the massacre.

"No, I don't have anyone like that." Sasuke said as he walked into the temple and Haku followed him.

Temple of Time

"Lightning Tiger Blade." Cress called out as he jumped into the air while slashing his sword upwards, bringing Naruto with him before slashing his sword downwards as he descended and suddenly a bolt of lightning came down and hit the blond.

"Not bad, but you've gotta do better than that Cress-san. Dattebayo!" Naruto said before he disappeared in a puff of smoke and Cress' eyes widened.

"Not bad, Naruto. You're a worthy opponent!" Cress said as he felt the flat side of Dein Nomos on his left shoulder.

"Thanks, that means a lot." Naruto said from behind Cress, giving his trademark grin before ending the fight and the warrior from the future turned back into earth.

Temple of Time, entrance hall

Sasuke and Haku walked into the temple and suddenly came what looked like an altar out of the ground.

"What the hell?" Sasuke said before walking over to the altar, but he couldn't figure out anything about it, so he decided to not bother with it and he and Haku walked through the door towards where – unknown to them – Naruto had fought Kakashi earlier.

Just after the two had left the entrance hall, Naruto and Konan came walking through the door that led to were the battle against Cress had been.

"Ya know, Konan-sensei, you could've helped me out some more, instead of just sitting back and watching." Naruto said.

"This is your test, not mine." Konan said.

"I hope that some of the other Akatsuki members will help me out more at least." Naruto said as they approached the altar and Naruto started praying to the Goddess Martel.

Temple of Time, hall of the present warrior

Sasuke and Haku entered the room where Naruto had fought Kakashi and suddenly, the pile of earth that was in the middle of the room rose up and formed a man and Sasuke's eyes widened.

The man in front of them had raven-black hair in a ponytail, black eyes and he wore a black cloak with a red cloud pattern.

"U-Uchiha Itachi?" Sasuke said in disbelief and with a slight trace of fear in his voice.

'_Uchiha Itachi?'_ Haku thought.

"Sasuke…" Itachi said, he didn't wonder where he was since he and his partner were the ones who had found the temple and he recognized the design and figured that Sasuke must've found the temple somehow.

Sasuke got a kunai from his pouch and threw it towards Itachi, but said Uchiha dodged it and jumped away before the explosive tag that had been attached to the kunai blew up.

"Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu." Sasuke said after he had weaved the hand signs and a large fire ball was sent straight for the older Uchiha.

Itachi dodged the fire ball and activated his Sharingan before weaving the hand signs for the same jutsu that Sasuke had just used.

"Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu." The fire ball was sent straight towards Sasuke and said genin didn't have enough time to dodge.

Sasuke covered his face with his arms, waiting for the fire ball to kill him, but nothing happened and when he dared to look he saw Haku standing in front of him with his arms extended and in front of him was a wall of ice.

"What…?" Sasuke said.

'_Hyoton? I thought there weren't any more Hyoton users around!'_ Itachi thought.

(Haku received the title: Hyoton User: One who has inherited the chakra affinities of wind and water to make ice.)

"Sasuke-san, I suggest we work together here!" Haku said.

"You sure? You could just kill me now, after all that'll make it easier for you and Zabuza, wouldn't it?" Sasuke said.

"Perhaps, but unlike Zabuza-sama I don't think I can take on a Sharingan user by myself." Haku said, not at all surprised that Sasuke figured out who he was.

"Heh, very well." Sasuke said before the wall of ice collapsed and the two ran towards Itachi.

Temple of Time, entrance hall

Lucifer was hovering in front of Naruto and Konan as he extended his arm and several small lights came down and hit the Chosen as a pair of golden wings that perfectly matches his hair colour came out of his back.

"**Now I've given you some angelic powers, but beware, the Angel transformation is not without peril."** The Angel said and Naruto smiled at the thought of having wings, maybe Sakura-chan would finally like him now.

"**Now go to the west in a place under the banner of the Uchiha!"** Lucifer said before disappearing and the two ninjas walked out of the temple.

Temple of Time, hall of the present warrior

"Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu." Sasuke cried out as he launched a fire ball at Itachi, but said S-ranked criminal just jumped out of the way only to get speared by a bunch of ice needles. But he suddenly turned into a swarm of crows and said crows vanished.

'_A Kage Bunshin?' _Sasuke thought.

"Sasuke-san, behind you!" Haku yelled and Sasuke ducked just in time to avoid a kunai that Itachi had thrown at him and he quickly turned around while weaving a sequence of hand signs.

"Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu." The fire ball headed straight towards Itachi and he countered with his own Goukakyo.

The two fire balls collided and Sasuke expected his own Goukakyo to be over-powered, but the two fire balls seemed to be just as strong as one-another. But suddenly, Itachi's eyes changed into a windmill pattern and blood came down from his right eye.

"Amaterasu." Itachi's Goukakyo was suddenly engulfed in black flames and Sasuke's Goukakyo was quickly over-powered.

Sasuke was pushed back into the wall and Haku came up in front of him, putting up a shield of ice, but the black flames started burning the ice until it was gone.

"You've gotten stronger Sasuke, but you still lack hatred!" Itachi said before turning into earth.

'_He's right, if only my hatred was stronger, then I could've won.'_ Sasuke thought as Haku approached him.

"Don't listen to him, strength doesn't come from hatred, nothing but more hatred comes from it! If you want to be really strong, you need friends that you'd want to protect!" Haku said.

Land of Waves, forest

After Naruto and Konan had exited the temple they noticed that the sword that Naruto had found had disappeared and shortly after the blond collapsed on the ground.

Naruto woke up in a small cave and outside was Konan standing watch to make sure that no one would find the blond Chosen.

"You're finally awake." Konan said as she noticed that Naruto had woken up.

"Ugh, how long was I out?" Naruto asked.

"You were unconscious for about 12 hours." Konan said, catching Naruto off-guard.

"T-twelve hours?" Naruto asked, shocked.

"You should probably hurry to the bridge, your teammates are on their way there now, but they don't know that Zabuza's there waiting for them!" Konan said.

"Oh, man. I've got to hurry." Naruto said as he got to his feet and started walking out of the cave.

"One more thing Chosen One! Do not use that technique that you learned earlier! It'll raise…unwanted questions." Konan said and Naruto nodded before activating his wings and flying up into the air in order to get there faster.

"Wow. I can fly!" Naruto said as he flew through the air before he noticed something down on the ground.

He flew down to the ground to see that it was a boar with deep gash marks in it and he noticed similar gash marks on several trees…leading to Tazuna-san's house.

Land of Waves, bridge

Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna walked onto the bridge to see that all of the workers had been knocked out.

"What happened? What…could have…?" Tazuna asked one of the workers.

"M-monsters." The worker said before passing out.

'_Looks like Sasuke was right!'_ Kakashi thought as he looked at the raven-haired genin, wondering how he could've known.

Land of Waves, Tazuna's house

"Inari, could you please help me do the laundry?" Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami asked.

"Okay, ka-chan. But I'm in the bathroom now!" Inari said.

Neither one knew of the two thugs, standing outside, ready to take one of them as a hostage.

Land of Waves, bridge

'_The mist…'_ Kakashi thought as he noticed a thick mist coming in "They're coming!"

The three shinobi quickly took up a manji formation around Tazuna to protect him as they also got out their kunai.

"Kakashi-sensei, is this…? That man we met…his Kirigakure no jutsu…isn't it?" Sakura asked as Sasuke started trembling.

"Been a while, Kakashi. And I see you've got those brats tagging along, just like last time. And the little boy is trembling again, poor thing." Zabuza's voice came through the mist and suddenly appeared several Mizu Bunshins of Zabuza around them and there were even one in the middle of the formation.

"I'm shaking with eagerness for a rematch!" Sasuke said.

"Go ahead…Sasuke." Kakashi said, confident that Sasuke could take down the Mizu Bunshins.

Sasuke quickly moved and within seconds, all of the Mizu Bunshins had turned into water while Sasuke appeared where he had been standing before, one kunai in each hand.

"Well, my Mizu Bunshins were obviously no match for you! It seems that the brat has matured into a worthy rival…eh, Haku?" Zabuza said as he and Haku came into view.

"Indeed!" Haku who had the same clothes on as when they had first seen him said.

"Looks like I was right. Our mysterious masked friend…is playing on Zabuza's team." Kakashi said.

"He has nerve, showing up like this!" Sakura said, pointing an accusing finger at Haku.

"This one's mine. Besides I have a good idea of his abilities!" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun's so cool!" Sakura said.

'_Sakura challenges everything Naruto says and does, but she takes Sasuke completely at face value, without question.' _Kakashi thought.

Haku quickly shunshined over to Sasuke, senbon in hand and he tried to strike the Uchiha, but Sasuke quickly got into position to block the senbon.

Land of Waves, Tazuna's house

The door was suddenly cut up and the two thugs stepped in.

One of them an eye-patch over his right eye, he had a large tattoo on his backed that also spiraled down his left arm. This was Waraji.

The other one had shoulder-length silver hair, a black cap, a grey jacket and black shorts. This was Zouri.

Tsunami immediately turned around as the two stepped in.

"Old man Tazuna's daughter, huh? Sorry, but you're coming with us." Zouri said.

Upstairs in the bathroom was Inari washing his hands and suddenly he heard a crash and his mother screaming.

Tsunami was sitting on the ground in front of the two thugs when Inari came running.

"Ka-chan!" Inari yelled.

"What do you want, brat?" Waraji asked.

"Run, Inari! Don't come in!" Tsunami yelled.

"Should we grab him too?" Waraji asked his partner.

"We only need one hostage." Zouri said.

'_Hostage…?' _Inari thought.

"Heh-heh…too bad…for him!" Waraji said as he started to unsheathe his katana.

"WAIT!" Tsunami yelled before continuing in a calmer tone "…If you dare touch my child…I'll bite through my tongue and drown in my own blood. Then what will you do for a live hostage?"

"Heh…be grateful to your ka-chan, kiddo." Zouri said as Waraji put away his sword.

"Aw, man…but I'm dyin' to cut someone!" Waraji said.

"Relax. You gave your blade a pretty good workout before we even came here. So get over it and let's go." Zouri said as they took Tsunami out of there, ignoring Inari's sobbing.

'_Ka-chan…I'm sorry…I'm a weak little crybaby…I can't save you…' _Inari thought in between sobs.

'_And I'm afraid! I don't want to die!' _ Inari thought before he remembered something that Naruto had said.

"You big baby! You figure it's noble to star in a melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at your pity party?"

Then he remembered something that Kakashi had told him.

"I think one day he must have gotten fed up with crying."

And he remembered something else that Naruto had said.

"It takes a really big man to sit around and cry…you brat! You big baby!"

He remembered something else that Kakashi had told him.

"He understands what it means to be strong. Costs and what it's worth…just as your father did."

Then he remembered something that his father had said long ago.

"If something is precious to you…protect it with all the strength you've got…even at the risk of your own life!"

'_Everyone else is…so awesome…so cool…and strong…_' Inari thought before he stood up and clenched his fists '_Can I…could I…be strong too…tou-san_?'

"Heh-heh…such beautiful skin. So smooth and lovely. It's a shame not to be able to cut it…" Waraji said as he and his partner was "escorting" Tsunami away.

"Stop dawdling!" Zouri said.

"WAIT!" Inari yelled as he came up behind them.

"INARI!" Tsunami yelled.

"Well, looky there. The brat came back." Waraji said.

"You get away from my ka-chan!" Inari yelled before charging at the two thugs.

"Jeez, this kid is a waste of space!" Waraji said.

"So cut him…" Zouri said as they drew their katanas.

"INARI!" Tsunami yelled as the two thugs cut through the boy…only for him to turn into a log.

'_Kawarimi?'_ Zouri thought.

"It's being a hero, ya know? All that in the nick of time stuff!" Naruto said as he held Inari next to an unconscious Tsunami, angel wings still showing.

"N-Naruto…!" Inari said, not noticing the weird looking wings.

"Sorry I'm late." Naruto said as the thugs noticed that the two were behind them "Way to go, Inari!"

"Hey! Isn't that…one of Tazuna's cut-rate bodyguards?" Waraji asked as Naruto stood up on his feet as he looked down on the younger boy.

"When you distracted them, I was able to save your mother!" Naruto said before looking at the two thugs and getting into a stance.

"Naruto! Will you be okay?" Inari asked as the two thugs ran towards them.

"No sweat." Naruto said as the stone on his ring glowed for a second before he vanished and before anyone knew what had happened Naruto was standing there on his knees in-between the two, now dead thugs, sticking their own swords through their backs.

"Wow. Naruto, how'd you do that, I didn't even see you move!" Inari said, surprise evident in his voice.

"Well, shinobi are supposed to be fast. But I don't have time to stay and chat, I've got to get to the bridge." Naruto said as he got up on his feet and just then Inari noticed the wings, but before he could say anything, Naruto had already flown off…wait a second, FLOWN OFF?

'_Wow! Naruto…I wish you were my onii-san…'_ Inari thought as he watched Naruto fly off.

Land of Waves, bridge

Haku attempted to strike down Sasuke with his senbon, but Sasuke managed to block it using his left kunai.

'_Aha. He can keep up with Haku's speed.'_ Zabuza thought.

"Sakura! We have to cover Tazuna-san. Take that side, and stay close! Let Sasuke handle Haku." Kakashi said.

"Yes, sir!" Sakura said before taking Tazuna away from the battle.

"I don't want to have to kill you, but you probably won't leave quietly will you?" Haku said.

"Don't be stupid." Sasuke said.

"Just as I thought…however you won't be able to match my speed for long. And I've laid the groundwork for two attacks." Haku said.

"Two attacks?" Sasuke asked.

"Firstly, there's the water splashed all around us. Secondly, I've trapped one of your hands with parrying this move…which leaves you only one hand free to defend yourself from my attacks!" Haku said as he started weaving a series of hand signs with only one hand.

'_What? Whit just one hand, he's…!_' Sasuke thought in surprise.

'_He's making signs with just one hand? I've never seen anything like it.' _Kakashi thought.

"Sensatsu suisho." Haku said and the water suddenly went up into the air around them and formed into needles of ice.

'_So… "I don't want to have to kill you"…? I wonder if he truly means that!'_ Zabuza thought.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled just before Sasuke made a one-handed hand sign as he concentrated his chakra.

'_Come on. Gotta remember the training. Summon all of the chakra that you can… and focus it in my feet!' _Sasuke thought as the needles shot towards him and he jumped into the air.

'_Where did he…?' _Haku thought before he saw four shuriken coming down towards him and he jumped back, avoiding the first three and knocking the fourth away with his senbon before he came to a stop.

"You're not that fast. Now _you're _the one who has to worry about defending yourself from my attacks." Sasuke said from behind Haku before he swung his right arm at the Hyoton user, but Haku blocked it with his left arm and Sasuke then threw one the kunai that he was holding in his right hand at Haku's head. Haku managed to duck under it, but then Sasuke moved in to kick him.

'… _H-he's fast…' _Haku thought and the kick sent him flying towards Zabuza.

'_What…? Haku… is actually losing a battle of speed?'_ Zabuza thought as Haku landed.

"You're fast. I'm faster." Sasuke said with confidence.

"You had that coming… for underestimating my team… and for name-calling. He may not look like much… but Sasuke here is a top-rated rookie from all of Konohagakure no sato. And Sakura here is our sharpest mind…" Kakashi said.

"**That's for sure. Oh, yes." **Inner Sakura said.

"And last, but not least… let's not forget our own comedy ninja, the maverick show-stopper, the one and only Naruto!" Kakashi finished before Zabuza started laughing.

"Haku… do you understand, if this goes on, you could end up dying at the hands of the very person you sought to spare?" Zabuza said and Haku stood up.

"What a pity." He said before making a hand sign and the temperature around them dropped.

'_Wh-why… does the air suddenly feel so… cold?' _Sasuke wondered before the water around him suddenly rose up and formed a dome of ice mirrors around him.

"Makyo hyoso." Haku announced the name of the technique.

'_I… don't know this jutsu!' _Kakashi thought before Haku walked into one of the mirrors and his reflection could be seen in all of them.

"Blast!" Kakashi said as he leaped towards the dome of ice mirrors, but Zabuza stepped in his way.

"Let's not forget, _I'm _your enemy. Our children together… while my boy kills yours." The demon of Kiri said.

'_No…' _Kakashi thought as he got ready to fight.

"Now that it's all in place…" Haku started.

'_What's he planning to do with these mirrors?' _Sasuke wondered as Haku continued talking.

"… Let me show you some real speed!" The Hyoton user finished before he took out a senbon and Sasuke was suddenly struck by senbons from everywhere.

"SASUKE!" Kakashi yelled as he heard the Uchiha's screams.

"Any sudden moves and I'll kill those other two!" Zabuza said.

"You…!" Kakashi said.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she too could hear the screams "Tazuna-san, I'm sorry… but I'm going to have to leave you for just a little bit."

"Go ahead, I'll be fine!" Tazuna said and Sakura moved forward before throwing a kunai at the mirror that Haku was in, but his upper body came out of the mirror and caught the sharp knife.

'_He caught it!' _Sakura thought in surprise, but then suddenly came a golden shuriken that seemed to be followed by a trail of golden feathers out of nowhere and slashed Haku's mask before said boy fell out of the mirror.

"… Who…?" Sakura said just before a stream of golden light flew straight down into the dome of ice mirrors and Sasuke looked up, just missing the disappearance of the wings.

"You all right, teme?" Naruto asked as he looked over his shoulder.

"Y-you doofus! No stealth… no caution… and you call yourself a ninja? Now that you've gotten yourself trapped in here with me… just do what you want. I don't really care." Sasuke yelled.

"I thought I'd come in here to rescue you, but if that's the way you're gonna be, then you can just forget it!" Naruto said.

"And how were you planning on _rescuing _me when you're trapped in here too!" Sasuke yelled, but Naruto just smiled before making the tora hand sign.

"Just wait and see!" Naruto then pointed the Sorcerer's ring at one of the mirrors and fired a fire ball, but it didn't even make a dent in the ice.

"That pitiful flame will only barely touch my ice mirrors…" Haku said before he took out a senbon and both Naruto and Sasuke were hit from all angles by countless senbon.

'_This doesn't look too good. I need to figure out where the attacks are coming from!' _Naruto thought before he made the dragon hand sign and the small stone on the ring's colour turned to silver once again.

Haku then through another senbon, but as Naruto activated his ring, he saw that Haku jumped out of the mirror and headed for another one.

'_So that's it. There were only one of him all the time, but he moved so quickly that it was impossible to see!'_ Naruto thought before Haku reached another mirror and threw a senbon towards him, said senbon only traveling a mm per minute from Naruto's point of view.

Haku jumped out of the ice mirror and headed for a third one, but this time he was shocked when Naruto punched him and sent him flying into one of the mirrors before falling down on the bridge as Naruto deactivated his ring.

Sasuke couldn't believe his own eyes, Naruto suddenly vanished and now he's managed to land a hit on Haku.

"Impressive, I didn't think that you'd be so fast." Haku said as he stood up.

"I'm not, but this ring I have here has just recently gained the power to slow down time!" Naruto said.

'_So that's how he did it! How did the dobe ever get his hands on that ring anyway? I have to know!' _Sasuke thought.

"I see. In that case, this jutsu would be useless against you, unless you somehow drop that ring!" Haku said before he took a senbon and threw it at Naruto, but said blond easily dodged it. However, the senbon then went straight at Sasuke who was in too much pain to move right now.

But then, Sasuke's eyes suddenly turned red with one tormoe in his left eye and two in his right. He then dodged the senbon at the last second.

Haku then weaved a few hand signs and needles of ice shot out of all of the mirrors at the two genins. Naruto was able to dodge almost all of them thanks to his ring, but Sasuke on the other hand was only able to dodge a few before he was bombarded by the senbon sized needles and he fell unconscious.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled, but there was no response and Naruto then looked towards Haku "Well, if that's the way it's gonna be, then I guess I'll win this with my newest technique!"

'_He's still got a trump card up his sleeve?' _Haku thought as Naruto started weaving a series of hand signs as his wings became visible and a white glyph appeared on the ground under his feet.

"Angel style: Angel Feathers jutsu." Naruto said as a golden kunai suddenly formed out of thin air and it shot towards Haku as it was followed by a trail of golden feathers.

Haku managed to dodge the kunai at the last second and it went straight through the ice mirror without slowing down as said mirror crumbled down to the ground.

With the others

Kakashi and Zabuza where staring eachother down, waiting for the other to make a wrong move. Suddenly they both sensed something coming towards them and they jumped to the side just before the golden kunai flew past them.

'_What was that? It came from where Haku and those kids are fighting!'_ Zabuza thought.

'_That kunai emitted a chakra signature! And it was the exact same chakra as Naruto…. When did he learn something like that?' _Kakashi thought just before they heard footsteps.

"Well, well. What have we here? I thought you said that you'd finish them off, Zabuza!" Kakashi, Zabuza, Sakura and Tazuna all looked towards where the voice came from to see none other than Gato and behind him was a horde of thugs.

With Naruto and Haku

Haku suddenly turned around as he sensed the familiar chakra signature of Gato, along with many other chakra signatures behind him.

"What's he doing here?" Haku asked no one in particular.

"What? Who's here?" Naruto asked before he saw Haku weaving a series of one-handed hand signs.

"If you want to know, you should get back to your friends!" Haku said before vanishing and Naruto looked back at his – still unconscious, seemingly dead – teammate before running towards the others.

With the others

"Gato, what are you doing here? And why did you bring all of _them_?" Zabuza asked as he stared at the business man.

"Zabuza-sama!" Haku said as he appeared.

"Did you finish off the brats, Haku?" The demon asked, but Haku shook his head.

"No, I came here as quickly as I sensed Gato!" Haku said.

"Heh heh heh. There's been a slight change of plan, Zabuza, Haku. Or of your plans, anyway. This was what I had in mind all along. You're going to die, "demon"… here and now." Gato said.

"What?" Zabuza asked.

"You must have guessed. I never intended to pay you. … It's such a bother hiring a skilled shinobi affiliated with one of the top villages. It's expensive… and they tend to have friends who object when I betray and kill them. It's so much simpler hire rogue ninjas like yourself. No one cares what I do to your kind once the job is done. All of you ninja are so eager to fight each other. Once you've worn each other down, common thugs can finish off the rest it's a great business plan, efficient and inexpensive." Gato said.

"Heh heh. There's just one little flaw in your plan, I haven't even started fighting yet, my chakra is nearly at its maximum." Zabuza said.

"WHAT? Then what have you been doing all this time?" Gato asked just as Naruto ran up besides Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! Who's that?" He asked.

"That's Gato!" Kakashi said.

'_That guy's Gato?'_ Naruto wondered as he had pictured the drug-dealer to look differently than what he did.

"Hey, Naruto! Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked and Naruto just looked towards the dome of ice mirrors with a sad look in his eyes. Sakura then ran towards the dome, expecting the worst while Tazuna ran after her.

"Haku, get ready!" Zabuza said and Haku took out some senbons while Zabuza got his sword from his back.

Gato began to back off a little as the thugs started getting a little nervous.

"What are you going to do, Kakashi?" Zabuza asked.

"Our mission is to protect Tazuna-san from Gato, so I guess we'll team up for now." Kakashi said.

"Agreed. Just remember, Gato's mine!" Zabuza said before he and Haku charged at Gato and his thugs.

"Come on, Naruto!" Kakashi said as he ran towards them as well, followed by Naruto.

"H-hey, I'm starting to think that this wasn't such a good idea." One of the thugs said.

"Y-yeah." Another one said.

"L-let's get out of here." A third thug said before they turned around a nd started running.

"Hey, where are you going? The one who manages to kill one of them gets double the pay." Gato said as he turned around, but the thugs – having decided that their lives was more important than money – didn't come back.

"Haven't anyone told you that you shouldn't turn your back on a ninja?" Gato looked over his shoulder just in time to see Zabuza swing his massive sword.

(Zabuza received the title: Employer Killer: A man that was betrayed by his employer… he got his revenge.)

Later

Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna were standing on the bridge, facing Zabuza and Haku.

"You know, you could stay here in this village." Tazuna offered, but Zabuza shook his head.

"No, we're rouge-nins, it's dangerous for us to settle down." Zabuza said.

"Why don't you come, stay in Konoha, then?" Naruto asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but we've got a mission to fulfill and we can't bring Konoha into it." Zabuza said.

"A mission?" Sakura asked.

"The Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura ordered all Kekkei Genkai holders in the Land of Water to be hunted down and killed! Our dream is to kill that tyrant!" Haku said.

"I see, but if you'd change your minds about coming to Konoha, I'd put up a good word for you for the Hokage." Kakashi said.

"Me too." Naruto said.

"Thanks, but it won't be necessary. Though I was wondering…" Zabuza said as he looked down at Naruto "Where exactly did you get that ring of yours?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Naruto said as he held up the ring "It's a secret!" He said before putting the ring back on his finger as Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped, that was the exact same thing he had told them and everyone else who had asked.

"I see. Come on Haku, let's go!" Zabuza said as he turned around and started walking away.

"I hope that you've all become stronger by the next time we meet." Haku said before he too, walked away.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, do you think that we'll ever see them again?" Sakura asked as she watched the two's retreating backs.

"Yeah, I'm certain without a doubt that we'll see them again." Kakashi said.

Chapter preview

Orochimaru "Uzumaki Naruto, Chosen of Regeneration and the Kyubi Jinchuriki!"

Kakashi "I've recommended all three of you for the Chunin exams."

Rock Lee "My name is Rock Lee. Among sticklers, etiquette requires one to introduce oneself before asking for the name of another… Uchiha Sasuke."

Anko "This is the arena for the second exam: training field 44. Also known as… the Forest of Death!"

Sasuke "Naruto… you're one of the ones that I want to fight!"

Naruto "Next time on Tales of Shippuden: The Chunin exams."

Sakura '_What the…? Naruto has wings?'_

Character status

Naruto: Level: 6

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin, Demon Fang, Angel style: Angel Feathers jutsu.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken, Dein Nomos.

Cress: Level: 5

Techniques: Demon Fang, Tiger Blade, Sonic Thrust, Sword Rain, Coil, Lightning Tiger Blade.

Weapons: Cress' sword. **(Kurama no Kyubi: I don't know what it's called and no it's obviously **_**not**_** the Eternal Sword!)**

Sasuke: Level: 5

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Sakura: Level: 1

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kakashi: Level: 23

Techniques: Raikiri, Magen: Narakumi, Doton: Shinju zanshu, Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Moguragakure, Fuja hoin, Katon: Goukakyo, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Kirigakure, Raiton: Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Sennen Goroshi, Kage Bunshin, Sairento kiringu, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga, Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suijinheki, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Konan: Level: 35

Techniques: Shikigami no mai, Kami Bunshin, Kami no shisha, Kami shuriken, Kami chakram.

Weapons: none

Kekkei Genkai: Origami.

Zabuza: Level: 21

Techniques: Kirigakure, Mizu Bunshin, Sairento Kiringu, Suiro, Suiton: Daibakufu, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: Kubikiribocho.

Haku: Level: 6

Techniques: Hissatsu hyoso, Makyo hyoso, Senatsu suisho

Weapons: senbon.

Kekkei Genkai: Hyoton.

Itachi: Level: 10

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Genjutsu: Sharingan, Amaterasu.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** And that's it for that chapter, in the next chapter, team 7'll go up against the ex-Akatsuki member, Orochimaru, who has absolutely no qualms with revealing Naruto's role as the Chosen.

**Sasuke:** "Role as the Chosen"? What are you talking about?

**Kurama no Kyubi:** What, haven't you read the story?

**Sasuke:** Ummm… no! Don't you remember that you forbade almost everyone from the cast to read this story?

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Oh, right… well, don't worry about it, you'll find out next chapter… probably!


	5. The Chunin exams

**Tales of Shippuden**

**Chosen arc**

**Kurama no Kyubi:** From this chapter and on, I'll be adding the titles of the different characters in the character status. Now on to the reviews!

**Reviewers:**…

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Seriously, do I have to tell you to review for you to review?

"Chosen One." Normal speech

'_Chosen One.'_ Normal thought

"**Chosen One." Biju, Angel and summoning speech**

'_**Chosen One.'**_** Biju, Angel, inner Sakura and summoning thought**

**Kakashi:** Kurama no Kyubi doesn't own anything.

Chapter 4: The Chunin exams

After the battle on the bridge, the rest of the mission had gone by uneventful and after a month since team 7 had first gotten there, the bridge was finished and everyone said their goodbyes and as team 7 crossed the bridge, Tazuna dubbed said bridge "The Great Naruto Bridge".

About 2 months after they had returned to Konoha, Naruto walked down a street as he heard some voices nearby and he jumped up into a tree to check it out.

"That's gotta smart!" A boy wearing black cat-like clothes said as Naruto got up on a branch in the tree. It seemed that three kids had been playing and one of them accidentally ran into the guy in the cat costume.

'_Hey, isn't that Konohamaru, jiji's grandson?'_ Naruto thought as he recognized the kid.

The boy then picked Konohamaru up by his collar and said "That hurt, snotface!"

"Knock it off. You're gonna get it as it is!" A blond girl who was standing next to the boy said.

Suddenly, a shuriken flew from a tree and hit the ground right next to the boy's feet and both he and the girl looked up towards the tree.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" The boy said before Naruto jumped down from the tree as he took out another shuriken.

"Let him go or next time, I won't miss!" He threatened.

"Hey, I just want to play with him a little… while we're waiting for the nuisance to get here!" The boy said.

"Alright, then. But don't say I didn't warn you, Dattebayo!" Naruto said before he threw the shuriken, but the boy managed to jump out of the deadly projectile's way.

"Heh, I thought you said that you wouldn't miss!" The boy said, but when he looked towards where Naruto had just been standing, there weren't anyone there.

"And who said, I was aiming at you?" The boy and the girl then turned around to see Naruto standing there with Konohamaru behind him.

'_He's fast…! That shuriken was only to distract Kankuro as he snatched the kid away.'_ The girl thought.

"You're a fast little midget, aren't you?" The boy, now identified as Kankuro said as he reached for a weird bandaged object that he had on his back.

"Tell me you're not planning to use the crow!" The girl asked as Kankuro put the object on the ground.

"Kankuro! Don't!" Everyone then looked up towards the tree that Naruto had been on earlier to see a boy, standing on the underside of a branch.

The boy had brown hair, green eyes with black rings around them and he had the kanji for love written in blood over his left eye.

"You're a disgrace to our entire village." The boy said.

"G-Gaara…" Kankuro said nervously.

"It annoys me that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children! Have you forgotten why we came here?" The boy, now identified as Gaara said.

"But Gaara… they started it. The little one slammed me!" Kankuro said as he pointed at Konohamaru.

"Shut up… or I'll kill you." Gaara said with no trace of emotion in his voice.

"You're right. I was out of line." Kankuro said nervously.

"We're sorry… okay, Gaara? Really, really sorry!" The girl said.

'_Judging from how they're acting, I'd say that that guy's in charge.'_ Naruto thought as Gaara looked down at him.

'_That is the one that managed to snatch that kid away from Kankuro without anyone seeing it. He's a fast one.'_ Gaara thought as he shunshined down to his two siblings.

"I know we're a little early, but we didn't come here to play around. I swear it won't happen again." Gaara said as he appeared in-between the two before he turned around to leave "Let's go."

"Hey, you! What's your name?" Naruto asked and Gaara turned around to face him.

"Sabaku no Gaara, at your service. And you are…?" Gaara said.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said.

What none of them realized however was that there were three ninja on a branch above them.

"What do you think?" One of them asked.

"None of them are of any importance… except the Konoha blond and the spook from Suna. Keep an eye on them." A man who had almost his entire face covered in bandages said.

Team 7's meeting place, the next morning

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all waiting for Kakashi to show… well actually, they had been waiting for five hours.

"Morning, guys! Today, I wandered a bit from the path of life." Konoha's strongest Jonin said when he finally showed up.

"You are such a liar! Would it kill you to at least pretend to be sorry?" Sakura yelled.

"In any case… this may surprise you, but I've recommended all three of you for the Chunin exams." Kakashi said.

"SAY WHAT?" Sakura yelled.

"Good one, sensei. you almost had us." Naruto yelled, thinking that their sensei was just kidding.

"You have to fill out applications." Kakashi said as he held out three applications for the exams and the three Genins took one each as he continued explaining "If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary. The choice is yours. You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the school by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. That's all!" The Jonin then shunshined away.

The Ninja Academy, the next day

The three Genin of team 7 walked through the corridors of the academy until they saw a door with a sign that said "301", but two guys – one with spiky hair and one with a backpack on his back – were standing outside and prevented anyone from entering.

A boy with black hair in a bowl-cut, large eyebrows, a green spandex suit and a Konoha Hitai-ate wrapped around his waist, was knocked back by one of the guys.

"Is someone as talentless as you really planning to take the Chunin exam? Why bother? Bunch of wet-behind-the-ears snotnoses! Snerk." The one with spiky hair said.

"You said it!" The other one said.

"Please… we're begging you… let us in." A girl with black hair that she had in to buns said before she walked towards the two that were blocking the door, but the one with spiky hair just knocked her back.

"… That's just cruel…!" A Konoha Genin said.

"What did you say? You misunderstand! We're just trying to save you… the chunin exam is incredibly difficult… and we should know. We've failed three times so far there are people who made it, then immediately gave up being shinobi… others who ended up crippled… some reduced to vegetables… we've seen it all! Besides that, chunin are team commanders. They lead their units. The responsibilities for failed missions and dead shinobi rest firmly on their shoulders. And you little punks have the nerve to apply? Snort. We're saving a step by weeding out the obvious losers beforehand." The one with spiky hair said.

"That sounds good in theory, but you better let me through. And drop the Genjutsu while you're at it. I have business on the third floor." Sasuke said as he, Naruto and Sakura approached them.

"So you figured that out, eh?" The one with the backpack said.

"Of course we figured it out, we've only gone up one set of stairs so far." Naruto said before the Genjutsu was dropped and the sign that said "301" changed to "201".

"Hey… not bad. But just seeing through it isn't… ENOUGH!" The one with spiky hair said before moving in to kick Sasuke and the Uchiha attempted to counter with a kick of his own, but the kid with the bowl-cut suddenly appeared in-between them and grabbed their legs like it was nothing.

'_He's so fast! He perceived the attack patterns on both sides and planted himself in the nexus of both their kicks… is that even possible? He's a completely different person from the boy who was getting beaten up just a minute ago.'_ Sakura thought.

'_That guy's fast! I wonder if he'd even be able to counter me while I'm using the Sorcerer's ring to slowdown time.'_ Naruto thought.

'_He blocked my kick! But there's something weird about his chakra.'_ Sasuke thought after the boy had released him and the other one.

"Hey… that's not what we agreed! You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention to ourselves." A boy with white eyes and pointy ears said as he approached the one with the bowl-cut.

"B-but…" The boy said as he looked over at Sakura and blushed.

"Here we go again…" The girl said while shaking her head and the one with the bowl-cut walked over to Sakura.

"Hi. My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you? Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life!" The boy, now identified as Rock Lee said.

"NO… WAY. You are way out of hand!" Sakura said and Lee slumped.

"Hey, you! What's your name?" The boy with white eyes said as he approached Sasuke.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name first." Sasuke said.

"You're a rookie, aren't you? How old?" The boy asked.

"I don't have to tell you a thing." Sasuke said and the two boys turned away from each other and walked in opposite directions _'This exam… is turning into a freak show.'_

Just behind the door of room 201 were the two guys who had stopped the Genin from entering earlier.

"Heh… so those are Kakashi-san and Guy-san's precious brats, eh? Well, at least they managed to submit applications." The one with the backpack said.

"Yep." The other one said before they dropped the Henge to reveal that they were the gate guards, Kotetsu and Izumo "It looks like we can amuse ourselves with this year's crop. Snort."

"A little perk for being the proctors." Izumo said.

"Now! Sasuke-kun, Naruto, ikuzo!" Sakura said before she started dragging the two boys with her.

"Let's go, Lee-san. What are you doing?" The girl on Lee's team said as she noticed that Lee was looking towards team 7.

"You guys… go on ahead. There's something I want to check first." Lee said.

Ninja Academy, practice hall

"Hey, you with the scowl… wait up!" Lee said when he had caught up with the three rookies.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked as he and his two teammates looked up at the older boy.

"You and me, here and now… want to fight?" Lee challenged.

"You want to fight me… here and now?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes!" Lee said before he jumped down and landed in front of them "My name is Rock Lee. Among sticklers, etiquette requires one to introduce oneself before asking for the name of another… Uchiha Sasuke."

"Huh… so you knew who I was all along." Sasuke said and Lee got into a Taijutsu stance.

"I'm calling you out! I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the last surviving member of your legendary clan." Lee said.

"So you're challenging me, even knowing my lineage? In other words, you're a fool. So, dog-brow… do you really want to learn… what it means to be an Uchiha?" Sasuke said.

"Absolutely!" Lee said, confidently _'I can hardly wait! I'm going toe-to-toe with the cream of the rookie crop, first time out! Now you'll get the proof you require Guy-sensei!_'

"Mark my words… none of you will beat me. I am the greatest fighter among all the Genin in Konoha!" He continued.

(Lee received the title: Greatest Genin: He claims to be the greatest Genin in Konoha, but is it true?)

"This could be fun. I accept your challenge." Sasuke said, but Sakura noticed that they didn't have much time left.

"Don't do it, Sasuke-kun! We have less than half an hour to submit our applications!" She said.

"This will only take five minutes." Sasuke said as he rushed at Lee and Sakura cheered on him.

'_Here goes! I'm sorry Guy-sensei… I may have to break the big rule! I might need… that move!'_ Lee thought before he vanished in a burst of speed and appeared just in front of the Uchiha, ready to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick "Konoha Senpou!"

'_Above me!_' Sasuke thought before he ducked under the kick, but then Lee was about to kick him again and this time there was no time to dodge it 'No time to duck. Gotta block!'

Sasuke noticed that Lee was making a hand sign with one hand and suddenly his foot went straight through Sasuke's guard and said Uchiha was sent several meters away.

'_I thought Sasuke-kun blocked that!'_ Sakura thought.

'_Whoa, he's good. Getting through Sasuke's guard like that!'_ Naruto thought.

'_How'd he get under my guard? Is this Taijutsu… or Ninjutsu? A Genjutsu?'_ Sasuke thought before he stood up on his feet.

'_As expected, he's coming back for more!' _Lee thought as he got back into his Taijutsu stance.

'_Fine. This may be my chance getting a little practice using… it.'_ Sasuke thought before activating his Sharingan to reveal that he now had two tormoes in each eye.

'_Th-that looks like… the Sharingan! But when could Sasuke-kun have…? Why Sasuke-kun? And why both eyes?'_ Sakura wondered.

'_So that's the famous Sharingan…'_ Lee thought.

'_Oh, Sasuke-kun! He's the best! If this is the same kind of genetic Kekkei Genkai skill that Kakashi-sensei has, Sasuke-kun can penetrate the secret of dog-brow's techniques!'_ Sakura thought.

'_Whether it's a Genjutsu or a Ninjutsu… there's some kind of magic at work here!'_ Sasuke thought as he charged at Lee.

'_And Sasuke-kun's gonna take it apart! He's getting stronger all the time. It must be his Uchiha blood! There's no way some slimy runt could beat him!'_ Sakura thought, but to her surprise Lee suddenly disappeared and reappeared below Sasuke, delivering a powerful kick to the Uchiha's jaw and sending him up into the air.

'_My Sharingan couldn't see through his technique. But that means… those moves he's using…' _Sasuke thought.

"Exactly… they're neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu." Lee said as though he knew what Sasuke was thinking before he jumped into the air and appeared behind the Uchiha.

"Oh… Kagebuyo…" Sasuke said, recognizing the technique.

"That's right. No trickery. My moves are strictly physical. Hard as you may find it to accept… if your Sharingan can see to the heart of every ninja art well enough to duplicate it, as it is said to, then you know what I say is true. I'm sure your Sharingan is invaluable against arts like Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, with their formalized rules, sign-casting, and chakra. But physical Taijutsu arts in their pure form are a very different story." Lee explained.

"But… how?" Sasuke asked.

"Even if you can perfectly perceive and understand my movements, you lack the speed and strength to counter them. You haven't had the physical training necessary to keep up with me! it doesn't matter what your eye can see if your body's too weak to act!" Lee said before the bandages around his left arm started unwrapping themselves as he continued "There are two kinds of strength. The kind you're born with… and the kind you only get from back-breaking work. Your Sharingan is natural-born genius. I hear it runs in your family. What I have, I got through blood, sweat and tears! In other words, your subtle arts and my physical prowess make us a complete miss-match! Let me prove it to you. This particular move of mine exceeds your genius… completely!"

'_What's he up to?'_ Sasuke thought.

Suddenly, a pinwheel hit the bandage and stuck it to the wall.

"**Halt, that's enough, Lee!"** Naruto and Sakura looked towards the voice to see a turtle.

'_What's… happening…?'_ Sasuke thought as he fell down.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she ran to catch her crush as Lee landed in front of the turtle.

'_I don't believe it, Sasuke got beaten.'_ Naruto thought.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Sakura asked as she noticed that the Uchiha was trembling '_He's trembling… he can't even defend himself…'_

"You… you saw?" Lee asked the turtle.

"**You know the rules, Lee. That move is strictly forbidden!"** The turtle yelled.

"P-please forgive me… I was only…" Lee said.

'_Ummm… what's with the turtle? Oh, wait a sec! Zetsu-sensei told me that there were many shinobi that had signed contracts with various animals – known as summoning animals – so that those animals could help them in fights… so I guess that turtle must be the summoning of dog-brow's sensei.'_ Naruto thought

"I… I wouldn't have used the reversal move… I never meant…" Lee said.

"**YOU FOOL! Do you think I care about your feeble excuses? Consider the repercussions of a shinobi baldly explaining all his secrets!"** The turtle yelled.

"Y-yes sir!" Lee said.

'_What a disgrace, losing to that clown!_' Sasuke thought as he watched the scene before him.

"**I hope you are properly prepared?"** The turtle said.

"Y-yes sir…" Lee said.

"**Well, then… he's all yours, Guy-sensei!"** The turtle said and in a puff of smoke appeared what looked like an older version of Lee on top of the turtle's shell.

"Ah, the exuberance of youth. All of you are full of it." The man who was obviously Guy said.

"He's got the biggest eyebrows yet! They're almost… alive… and that same dorky 'do… they're… uber-brows! I've never seen anything like 'em!" Sakura said.

"H-hey! Don't try to make fun of Guy-sensei!" Lee yelled while raising his fist at them.

"Oh, shut up! I don't even know what to make of all the freaks who keep popping in here!" Naruto yelled.

"WHAT…" Lee yelled, but he was cut off by his idol.

"Lee!" Guy said and Lee immediately turned to him.

"Huh? Oh! Uh, yes, sir…" Lee said.

"IDIOT!" Guy yelled as he punched Lee so hard that he was knocked to the floor.

"You… you…" Guy said as he crouched down.

"Sensei…!" Lee said before tears suddenly came down from both his and his sensei's eyes, anime style "Sensei… I…I…"

"That's enough, Lee! Not one more word." Guy said as he hugged his pupil.

"Sensei!" Lee said and suddenly, a Genjutsu of a sunset with waves splashing on some rocks appeared.

'_I got beaten… by some touchy-feely crybaby!'_ Sasuke thought.

"I understand. It's because you're young!" Guy said.

"Sensei!" Lee said.

"It's all right, Lee! Mistakes and youth go hand in hand." Guy said after the hug ended and he had gotten back up on his feet.

"You are too kind… sensei!" Lee said.

"But I can't let your attempt to break the big rule go unpunished. Your penalty will be sweat after the Chunin exams." Guy said.

"I understand!" Lee said.

"Five hundred laps around the practice arena!" Guy yelled as he pumped his fist into the air.

"Yes, sir!" Lee said before Guy noticed the three other Genins that were there.

'Hmm? Unless I miss my guess, those children… are Kakashi-san's.' Guy thought before saying "By the way… how is Kakashi-san? I'm asking you!"

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Do I know him?" Guy said before he suddenly vanished as though he was never there.

"I should say so! We're arch-rivals!" Guy said from behind the three of them catching Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura off guard.

(Guy received the title: Kakashi's Rival: He's known Kakashi ever since their academy days and for him, there could be no greater rival.)

'_He…'_ Sasuke thought as he and his two teammates turned around.

"The score stands at 50 to 49. I'm stronger than he is." Guy said.

'_He's so fast. His speed is much greater than Kakashi-sensei's! Is he even human?'_ Sasuke thought in amazement.

"As you can see, Guy-sensei is totally amazing!" Lee said.

"I know Lee started this fight, but take pity on his old teacher. For the sake of my own self-respect, forgive him." Guy said.

'_Who IS this guy? He claims he's stronger than Kakashi-sensei… and I don't think he's bluffing!'_ Sasuke thought.

"You and Lee should head up to the classroom now." Guy said as he threw a kunai at the pinwheel, freeing Lee's bandages and Naruto noticed the wounds on Lee's hand as said Genin started wrapping the bandages around the hand again.

'_He's…'_ Naruto thought.

"Best of luck, Lee! Later!" Guy said before shunshining away.

"Yes, sir! By the way, Sasuke… I was blowing smoke before. I'm really here to prove my strength in combat. And I don't think you're the strongest Konoha genin. The strongest genin is a member of my own team… and I intend to take him down. That's why I'm entering. And by the way… you're on my list, too." Lee said before jumping into the air while yelling "Off to apply for the exam. Be ready for it, okay?"

"Maybe your hot-snot, famous Uchiha clan isn't that great after all, huh?" Naruto said.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled.

"… Shut up… next time, he's dead meat." Sasuke said.

"Despite the total butt-kicking you got this time, right?" Naruto said.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"You saw his hands, right? Old buggy brows probably gets some kind of super-duper extra-special training, day after day! Even more than you got. You're toast, pal!" Naruto said.

"Hmm! Things are starting to get interesting. This Chunin exam is bringing things to a boil! Naruto? Sakura? Ikuzo!" Sasuke said before the three of them walked in the direction of room 301.

Ninja Academy, hallway outside room 301

Team 7 walked towards the door to room 301 to see Kakashi waiting outside.

"Glad you made it after all, Sakura. This way you all qualify to apply for the Chunin exam." Kakashi said.

"…What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The way the test is set up, it can only be taken by three-man teams." Kakashi said.

"But… Kakashi-sensei, you said it was up to us to decide whether or not to apply. Were you lying?" Naruto said.

"I said what I had to to keep your partners from pressuring you into coming along. Even if you had no interest in applying, one word from Sasuke and you'd have come along and gone through the motions, though your heart wouldn't have been in it." Kakashi said.

"What would have happened if Sasuke-kun and Naruto had shown up without me?" Sakura asked.

"I'd have washed them out right here. None of you would have gotten past this point without both of the others. But you're all here because you want to be. And I'm very proud of you. Now get in there!" Kakashi said, eye-smiling at the last part and the three Genins walked through the door.

Ninja Academy, Room 301

When team 7 entered the classroom, they were shocked at seeing all of the applicants in the exams. There was enough Genin in here from the different villages to fill the entire room, and it wasn't a small room either.

'_So many people. Are they all here to apply? They look… incredible…'_ Sakura thoughtbefore gulping.

"Sasuke-kun! Where've you been, cutie? I could hardly wait! It's so exciting, seeing you again after all this time!" Ino yelled as she jumped at the Uchiha from behind.

"Ino-buta, you pig! Get your hooves off Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.

"Hello to you, too Sakura. Still hoping the big, mutant forehead look is going to come into fashion, huh? How sweet." Ino said.

"What did you say?" Sakura yelled while raising her fist at Ino.

"Why don't you three save yourself the embarrassment of flunking this test? Go die, okay?" Shikamaru said as he and Choji walked over to them.

"Well, if it isn't the three stooges!" Naruto said.

"Stop calling us that!" Shikamaru said.

"Hey! There you are!" Everyone turned towards the voice to see Kiba, Shino and Hinata.

"Uh… hi…" Hinata said.

"Looks like the gang's all here." Kiba said.

"Including you… unfortunately!" Shikamaru said.

"So… I guess all three of this year's newbie trios decided to apply, huh? I wonder how far we'll all get. What do you think… Sasuke?" Kiba said.

"Trying to psych us by acting cool, Kiba?" Sasuke asked.

"Who's acting? The way we've trained, no way can you beat us." Kiba said.

"Oh, shut up! You guys won't even beat me, much less Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun… Kiba-kun didn't mean that the way it sounded…" Hinata said while twiddling her fingers.

"Would you guys do us all a favor and just shut up?" They turned towards the voice to see a man with silver hair in a ponytail, glasses, purple clothes and a Konoha Hitai-ate "You three gangs of would-be hotshots are all Genin, right? Kids barely out of the local ninja academy? All wet-behind-the-ears and runny-nosed! This isn't a school field trip, you know. Who the heck do you think you are? Name's Kabuto. So what? You kids need to open your eyes."

"Why?" Sakura asked as she and the others noticed the Ame team behind them that looked rather annoyed to say the least.

"Watch out for the group behind you. They're Amegakure shinobi and they've got very short fuses. Everyone's on edge, waiting to take the exam. I wanted to give you a heads-up before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you. But it's probably unavoidable. Like all rookies, you think you already know everything. I remember what it was like." Kabuto said as he reached into his weapons pouch.

"Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah?" Kabuto asked.

"Are you saying that this is the second time you've applied?" Sakura asked.

"Not second… seventh, twice a year for… hm, going four years now." Kabuto said.

"Wow… then you've got a lot of experience with what we can expect!" Sakura said.

"I guess so." Kabuto said as he pulled out several cards "Okay… the least I can do is give you sweet little babies some vital intelligence on what you're in for... with these shinobi info cards."

"Shinobi info cards?" Sakura asked.

"To put it simply, they contain information about the skills we use, transformed into symbols and burned into the cards using chakra." Kabuto said as he put down the cards on the floor. He then took one of the cards and laid it down in front of the rookies.

"It took me four years to collect all the intelligence needed for this exam. In all, there are almost 200 cards. They look blank, don't they? The only way you can read the data on the cards is by using my own personal chakra. Each set is linked to its possessor for example, cards like this one…" Kabuto said before channeling chakra into the card.

"What's he doing?" Ino asked before a map of the elemental countries appeared on the card.

"It's some kind of combination map and bar graph, in three dimensions! What kind of intelligence is this?" Sakura said.

"It shows how many applicants each shinobi nation is sending to this session of the chunin exams. There's a total of 153 applicants for the exams with 87 from Konoha, 30 from Suna, 21 from Ame, 6 from Taki, 6 from Kusa and 3 from Oto." Kabuto said.

"Do you also have dossier cards? Cards for each individual applicant?" Naruto asked.

"Ha ha… Why? Someone here you have a particular interest in? I'll admit these are far from complete, but I've burned a set of dossier cards for the current pool of applicants, including your team. If you share any data you have on this person who interests you, I'll be happy to look him up and let you know what I have so far." Kabuto said.

"Sabaku no Gaara from Sunagakure and Rock Lee from Konoha." Naruto said.

"You know their names? No sweat, then!" Kabuto said before taking out two cards.

"Let me see them." Naruto said and Kabuto laid down the card for Rock Lee first.

"First up is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. Missions to date: 20 D-ranked, 11 C-ranked. His team's mentor is Might Guy. And his Taijutsu skills have grown exponentially this past year. He has no other talents worth mentioning. He was considered a standout among last year's Genin, but he didn't apply for the Chunin exam. He's a first timer, like you guys. His teammates are named Hyuga Neji and Tenten." Kabuto said before laying down Gaara's card.

"Next is Sabaku no Gaara of Suna. 8 C-ranked missions… 1 B. wow! Not many rookie shinobi get B-ranked assignments! Since he's from way out in the desert, I have less on him… but it's interesting. He's come back from every mission completely unscathed. Without a scratch…" Kabuto said.

"Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Oto… this year every hidden village has sent outstanding Genin here to compete. I don't know much about Otogakure no sato. It's part of a new, small nation, so intelligence on it is lacking. Every other competing village is well-respected, home to some formidably powerful shinobi." Kabuto said.

"Anybody besides me suddenly feeling kind of outclassed?" Hinata asked.

"What you're trying to tell us is… everyone here…" Sakura said.

"Oh, yeah. They're all like Lee and Gaara… elite hand-picked shinobi, the best young ninja in the world. They have to be! The test is pitiless!" Kabuto said.

Three shinobi were quickly moving through the crowd, but Kabuto seemed to be the only one to notice them. One of them suddenly jumped into the air before throwing two kunais at Kabuto, but he easily dodged it. However another one came up in front of him and swung his right arm.

'_They're from Oto…' _Kabuto thought before dodging the Oto-nin's arm, but suddenly his glasses shattered and he took them off while thinking _'I see, this kind of attack… is… hmmm…'_

"What's going on? He dodged the blow, but something broke his glasses!" Sasuke said.

"His nose probably got grazed… serves him right for acting all superior." Shikamaru said.

Kabuto then suddenly collapsed on his knees and vomited. Everyone in the room that saw it was taken off guard by it, having thought that the guy had dodged the blow.

"Are you all right?" Sakura asked as she got over to Kabuto.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Kabuto said.

"You're a pushover, aren't you? Pretty sad for someone who's been an applicant for four years now." The one who had attacked Kabuto said.

"Better add this to your cards. The three applicants from Oto will all make Chunin this year!" The one who had thrown the kunais said.

'_I know Kabuto ducked that blow… so what happened to him? Why did he vomit?'_ Sasuke thought.

Elsewhere in the crowd was Lee's team trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Lee, what did that look like to you?" The boy with white eyes, which must be Neji asked.

"Kabuto-san saw through the attack… so there must have been something else to it, some trick they used to make him sick." Lee said and suddenly there was a large puff of smoke at the front of the classroom.

"Would everybody please just shut up?" A voice came from the smoke and said smoke dissipated to reveal the first exam proctors.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. My name is Morino Ibiki. I'm the proctor and chief examiner for the first part of the exam." One of the proctors said, he had several scars on his face and a black jacket over his Jonin vest and he wore his Konoha Hitai-ate like a bandana.

"You… the kids from Oto! You can't carry on any way you please when the exam's about to start! Or do you want to be disqualified?" Ibiki said.

"Sorry, sir… it's our first exam, and we got a little carried away." The Oto-nin that had attacked Kabuto earlier said.

"Is that so? Then it's high time that someone laid down a few ground rules. From this point forward, there will be no more fighting without the express permission of the examining officer… and even if that permission is granted, anything that dangers another applicant's life is strictly forbidden. Any of you little piglets who break that rule are out. Disqualified. No second chances. Got that?" Ibiki said.

"So this is a test for little girly men?" One of the Oto-nins said.

"As you wish. The first part of the exam is about to commence. Turn in your written applications, take one of these seating assignment cards…" Ibiki said before he held up a card with the number "1" on it "And report directly to the seat indicated. When everyone's seated, we'll pass on the written part of the test."

"Huh? A-a paper test?" Naruto yelled.

Everyone was given seating assignment cards and papers before taking a seat, each paper had ten questions on them, or rather, they had nine questions on them with the tenth question supposed to be given to them at the last 15 minutes of the test. Everyone also started out with ten points and each time they missed a question, they would lose a point and if one member of a team would miss all questions then the entire team would be disqualified. Also if someone were caught cheating 5 times then they and their entire team would be disqualified.

"You have one hour… starting… NOW!" Ibiki said and the test started.

'…_Say it isn't so… this could be a no win situation… please, Naruto… hang on to at least one of your points!'_ Sakura thought.

'_Heh heh heh… this is funny… here I am again… facing the worst kind of enemy! Teachers didn't call me the all-time dobe for nothing! I earned that name on the field of battle! The trick is not to show any fear, tests can smell fear! Remain calm… don't try to do everything at once. Look each question square in the eye. Try to find the weakest link… the easy one. Separate it from the herd, and take it down.'_ Naruto thought.

'_This is SO not good! Naruto is an idiot… I just hope he doesn't panic.'_ Sasuke thought before looking down on the paper '_Whoa. First up is cryptography. They want us to work our butts off!'_

'_I wonder how Naruto's doing…_' Sakura thought before looking down on the paper '_…But I've got to concentrate on my own work! I've got to hang on to all of my points, to make up for him. Um… number two… "The parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy shinobi, A, could throw a shuriken from the top of a 23.3-foot-tall tree. Calculate the specific features of the scenario and deduce the range of the shuriken's effectiveness, assuming a consistent speed for shinobi A's assault upon any enemy shinobi operating within the arc that the flight of the shuriken describes. Show your work." This… this is… to solve this, you need to hypothesize under very uncertain conditions… and then apply the laws of kinetics to whatever you come up with! There's no way Naruto could solve something like this! Of course neither can most of the people here. It's a killer… 'course, I can answer it.'_

'_Well, well… I don't know how to answer a single one of these questions. And what's the deal with number ten?'_ Sasuke thought before looking towards some of the proctors that were sitting by the windows _'They're watching us, like cats watch mice. Like they expect us to cheat. Those rats! With so many proctors looking over our shoulders, they're probably watching every little thing every one of us does… making notes about us in their gradebooks!'_ Just then Sasuke saw that one of the proctors started writing something _'The axe has fallen somewhere!_' He then remembered some of what Ibiki had said.

"If you let the proctors catch you cheating, you'll bring yourself and your friends down! If you aspire to become Chunin… if you want to be the best shinobi you can be… then you'd better start acting like you already are!"

'_Hold it! Unbelievable… this is an "intelligence" test in more than just the academic sense! They're also testing our information gathering skills! They WANT us to cheat… like shinobi! Without getting caught! Shinobi must look underneath the underneath. The proctors want us to cheat really well! The way the best shinobi would, if they needed this kind of information in a real-world mission! Look at how they set up the "perfect score, minus penalties" scenario! With two points deducted every time you get caught cheating the real message is that you can be caught four times before you face disqualification! What we're being tested on is not whether we know the answers, but how skillfully we can discover them! Come on, Naruto! Any minute now, everyone who's figured it out will start going for it!'_ Sasuke thought.

'_Stop glaring at me. I get it already.'_ Kankuro thought as he saw Gaara glaring at him as said Jinchuriki started gathering sand around his hand '_Gaara's started, too, huh? Don't fail me, scare-crow…'_

Kiba's dog, Akamaru sat on top of his master's head, scouting out the answers and telling them to Kiba.

"Woo-hoo! Good boy, Akamaru! Next is question number four…" Kiba whispered to the small mutt.

A bee landed on Shino's paper and the stoic boy picked it up on his finger and whispered "Excellent! Tell me more!" The bee then started flying in a number 8 pattern _'Number eight, huh?'_

At one of the light bulbs in the ceiling where several mirrors that Lee's female teammate, Tenten had put up there earlier and she adjusted one of them slightly with nearly invisible threads so that it showed the reflection of one of the papers.

'_Lee, if you can see it, adjust your Hitai-ate…'_ She thought and as though he'd read her thoughts, he took off the Hitai-ate and tied it around his forehead.

Neji closed his eyes and when he opened them again, veins had popped up around them.

'_Byakugan!_' He thought and he looked straight through the guy in front of him.

'_That's the one. I'm going to mimic his every move! Using the Sharingan!'_ Sasuke thought as he activated his eyes.

'_Wait a minute…! I know how I can cheat without getting caught!'_ Naruto thought before he looked around to see that Hinata – who was sitting to the right of him – was looking straight ahead, he also noted the veins that had popped out beside her eyes '_Good, no one's looking at me. I'm glad that Konan-sensei taught me some of her Origami jutsu.'_

Naruto then concentrated some chakra into his palm and a small piece of his skin seemed to rip off as it turned into a slip of paper before it folded itself into an insect and flew away.

'_that's it! I've answered them all! There's nothing left for me to do but to wait for the tenth question.'_ Sakura thought, not realizing that this is what Ino's been waiting for.

'_It looks like Sakura has finally stopped writing. Time to make my move! Sakura… your broad brow and big brain have earned my respect, so you ought to feel honored that you're going to be the target of my signature technique! Well then, here it comes…'_ Ino thought before her body slumped over the desk, as her mind entered Sakura.

'_Sorry, Sakura… not. Sakura, you're a dear, letting me possess you like this… and see all of your answers!'_ Ino thought as she picked up Sakura's paper and started looking through the answers while thinking _'Have to memorize this quickly, before someone catches me. Next I'll possess Shikamaru and Choji, and write these answers on their papers! Clever little me!'_

'_Ino's asleep. she must be using that technique of hers…'_ Shikamaru thought.

'_No one can withstand her when she starts that astral-projection stuff!'_ Choji thought.

"On your feet, number 102. You fail." One of the proctors said.

"You too, number 23. You're out!" Another proctor said.

"Number 43 and number 27… start walking. You all fail!" Another proctor said.

'_That's 13 teams they've flunked out so far!'_ Kabuto thought just before a Suna Genin slammed his hand on the desk as he stood up.

"Cheated five times? Me? What proof do you have? How could you possibly watch this many students at once?" He yelled just before one of the proctors slammed him into the wall… on the other side of the room.

"Listen up and listen good. We proctors are the elite. Even in a group as skilled as the one gathered here today, we are far and away the best. We miss nothing! You got that kid? You feel this? Well, I am as skilled as I am powerful!" The proctor said.

Ibiki then noticed Gaara and how calm he looked.

'_Hmm… that brat is up to something! Whatever it is, he's doing it without turning a hair… perfectly calm in the eye of this hurricane. For a rookie, he's amazing.'_ He thought.

Gaara was gathering sand into his left hand, forming an eye of sand.

'_My optic nerve is reconnected… opening my third eye!_' Gaara thought before he crushed the eye and the sand was dispersed throughout the room.

"Excuse me." Kankuro said as he stood up.

"What is it?" One of the proctors asked.

"I've got to go to the bathroom…" Kankuro said and one of the proctors walked over to him and put handcuffs on him.

"Of course. One of the proctors will accompany you." The proctor said.

"Why not?" Kankuro said.

Ninja academy, men's bathroom

"They think they're so slick! And they never even noticed that there's been one extra proctor this whole time! Pretty sad! Nice going, Crow!" Kankuro said as the skin around the proctors left eye fell off and Kankuro sighed "Now then, give me all the answers in order, starting with number one."

Ninja Academy, room 301

'Now that we've weeded out the worst of the slackers… let's move on to the most important question. 45 minutes have passed. The time has come.' Ibiki thought before saying "All right! Here it comes. Get ready for the tenth question."

'You better hurry back, Kankuro! I was supposed to get your first nine answers before they gave us the tenth question.' Temari thought.

"And before we get to the question itself… I'm adding one more new rule." Ibiki said, but before he could say any more, Kankuro came back.

"Heh… looks like you're in luck. The time you've spent playing with dolls hasn't been completely wasted." Ibiki said.

'Dolls… does he know about scarecrow?' Kankuro thought as he walked back to his seat, handing a note with all the answers on it to Temari as he passed her.

"Let me explain. This rule… is absolute." Ibiki said.

Konoha, Jonin lounge

Kakashi, the sensei of team 8 Yuhi Kurenai and the sensei of team 10 Sarutobi Asuma were sitting in the jonin lounge, talking.

"Wow… with our subordinates tied up in exams, we've got time on our hands." Kakashi said.

"Don't worry. We'll be busy again before you know it." Asuma said while sighing.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"Word is, this year's first chief examination officer is Morino Ibiki-san." Asuma said.

"That sadist? Why did it have to be Ibiki?" Kakashi asked before thinking '_Will they even make it past the first exam?'_

"Sadist?" Kurenai asked.

"Kurenai, you're still a newbie to the Jonin, so you have no way of knowing." Asuma said.

"Why? What's he like?" Kurenai asked.

"He's a pro, a pro's pro…" Asuma said.

"A pro? At what?" Kurenai asked.

"Torture and interrogation! Konoha ANBU torture and interrogation corps unit leader, Jonin commander, Morino Ibiki! In the exam that is presently underway… while there may be no physical torture… there's no doubt that the applicants are being subjected to the psychological pressures that make him infamous as an interrogator. " Asuma said.

Ninja Academy, room 301

"First… you must choose whether to accept or reject this tenth question!" Ibiki said.

'Accept or reject…? What's he getting at?' Sasuke thought.

"Ch-chose? What happens if someone doesn't accept the question?" Temari asked.

"If you reject the question and don't even try to answer it, you'll lose all your points immediately… and fail! And both of your teammates will fail right along with you." Ibiki said.

"Say what?" A Taki-nin yelled.

"Then why would anyone choose to reject it?" A Suna-nin that sat next to him yelled.

"Because… of the other rule." Ibiki said.

'Oh, come on. What more can he add?' Sakura thought.

"If you try to answer the question… and you get it wrong… you will never be permitted to apply for the Chunin exams again. Not ever." Ibiki said.

"You can't be serious. That's ridiculous! There are ninja here who've sat for the Chunin exams more than once already! We know there are!" Kiba yelled while Akamaru barked and Ibiki started laughing.

"Just your rotten luck. I wasn't making the rules in past years. I am now. I've been up front with you. You can take a failing grade now, and try again later. Anyone who has doubts would be smart to reject the tenth question right now. Come back and reapply next year, and the year after that." Ibiki said.

'_Talk about a no-win situation! If even one member of a team rejects the question, then all team members fail for the year. If anyone accepts the question and can't answer it… he'll be stuck at Genin level for the rest of his life!_' Sakura thought.

"Ready? Then let's begin. Those who choose not to accept should raise their hands. Once their number has been confirmed, they will leave the room." Ibiki said.

'_I don't intend to raise my hand. I'm sure I can answer the question, whatever it may be! But even if Naruto decides to play it safe and reject the question, and we fail… all I'll lose is time. I won't have failed forever, and I can apply again for the next exam. But… but Naruto… you're different. It'd be foolish of me to sacrifice yourself forever for our sakes. Reject the question.'_ Sakura thought just as the guy that was sitting just to the left of Naruto, raised his hand.

"I-I… I quit! I'm rejecting the question! Gennai! Inaho! Please forgive me!" He said.

"Number 50! Failed! Number 130! Number 111! You fail right along with him." One of the proctors said before several others quit as well.

'… _Naruto… why don't you raise your hand? That idiot!'_ Sakura thought before she thought about what the blond's dream was '_He's always going on about "Hokage" this and "Hokage" that… like a broken record! I'm sorry, Naruto… your dream may be crazy, but I don't want it to be taken away from you forever.'_ She then started raising her hand, but then she noticed something that she didn't expect.

Konoha, Jonin lounge

"That Ibiki-san… understands the human heart completely. It's what makes him so terrible. He uses his insights mercilessly to manipulate his foes… bringing their human weaknesses to the surface… and using those weaknesses to make them crack! Trickery is no defense against his skills as an interrogator." Asuma said.

Ninja Academy, room 301

Naruto had raised his hand, but then he suddenly slammed his hand down on the desk.

"Never underestimate me! I don't quit, and I won't run! I'll accept your stupid question! Even if I risk ending up a Genin for the rest of my life… I'll still become Hokage, even if I can only make it by pure stubbornness. I don't care! I'm not afraid of you" He yelled, inspiring the rest of the Genin in the room to stay as well.

'He… never even gave us a thought. But he certainly does have guts.' Sasuke thought.

'_Good thing… because an idiot like him needs them!'_ Sakura thought.

"I'll ask you one last time. This is a decision that could affect the rest of your life. Quit now while still have the chance." Ibiki said.

"I never go back on my word. That's my nindo!" Naruto said.

'_81 of them are still here. Hm… an entertaining kid. And interesting. He dispelled everyone else's doubts along with his own. More than I expected but… there's no point in dragging it out. Thanks to him… no one else will quit.'_ Ibiki thought before he looked towards the other proctors and they all gave affirmative nods.

"Good call. So everyone who is still here…" Ibiki said and all of the Genin that were still in the room prepared themselves for what was to come "… you've just passed the first exam!"

"What do you mean, "passed"? What happened to the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

"There is no tenth question… beyond the whole "accept or reject" thing." Ibiki said.

"Hey, then why did we have to suffer through the other nine questions? That was a total waste of our time!" Temari yelled.

"There was no waste. Those questions had a purpose, which they've already served." Ibiki said.

"Such as?" Temari asked.

"Our goal was to test your skills… at spying!" Ibiki said.

'_He seems like a completely different person.'_ Temari thought before saying "… Our skills at spying?"

"Remember the rules at the beginning? You pass or fail as part of a three-man team. With that rule, I pressured you with the fear that anything you did wrong would bring your teammates down with you. However… the questions are beyond the level that Genin could be expected to handle. So most of you… having reached that same conclusion had only one way of retaining your points, by cheating. In other words… we set up the test on the assumption you'd cheat. And, to ensure there would be suitable targets for you to cheat from, we snuck in a pair of ringers… two Chunin who already knew all the answers." Ibiki said.

"It took me forever to figure out who they were!" A ninja behind Naruto said.

"Oh, yeah. Me too." A ninja behind him again said.

"Of course, anyone who cheated in a clumsy or obvious way… failed." Ibiki said as he took of his Hitai-ate to show that he had burn scars and puncture wounds all over the top of his head and he continued "Because there may be circumstances where being caught in an act of espionage can cost you more than just your life. You pay in ways that can be taken from you little by little, time and time again, when many lives hang in the balance."

'_Burn scars… punctures from where screws were used… long slash marks… he's been tortured!'_ Sasuke thought.

'Cool… I bet his hands are even worse! But that's what he gets for being dumb enough to get captured. It'll never happen to me!' One of the Oto-nins thought.

"The information you obtain can't be trusted… if you can't keep your presence secret from the enemy. Learn that and learn it well. If you bring back intelligence from a suspect source or a compromised operation… you're doing your enemies' work for them, putting those you serve in danger. That is why we maneuvered you into using your espionage skills to cheat. It was the quickest way of weeding out the students whose skills aren't yet up to stuff." Ibiki explained while putting his Hitai-ate back on.

"Okay… but what was the deal with the tenth question?" Temari asked.

"Ah! The tenth question… was the first real test on the exam." Ibiki said.

"What on earth do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Let me explain… the tenth question was a choice between two options that were both difficult and dangerous. Those who chose to reject were failed, and their friends along with them. Those who chose to accept and couldn't answer the question… lost any chance of ever even trying again. It was a nasty, unfair, no-win set of options. So why do I present them? Let's suppose you all go on to successfully attain the rank of Chunin. You are assigned to steal a vital enemy document… knowing nothing about the skills, deployment, or military preparedness of your foe. You may have to cross a territory that has been heavily mined and set with traps. Now… do you accept your mission? Or do you reject it… rather than place your own life – or the life of your companions – in jeopardy? Could any Chunin get away with only taking on the safe jobs? Of course not! No matter how dangerous the risk… there will be missions that you cannot decline. A ninja must demonstrate valor that inspires those around him… helping all to overcome their fear. This is the talent that we most value in the commander of a Chunin team! Those who can't gamble with their own fate… who would trade today's certain risk for tomorrow's uncertain future… never taking the chance that lies before them are weaklings who make only weak decisions. In my opinion, they don't belong in the ranks of the Chunin at all! By choosing to accept, you answered the almost-insoluble tenth question correctly. If you keep that spirit, you can probably conquer all of the many doubts and difficulties you'll face. You've passed the first hurdle. Part one of the Chunin exam is now concluded. I'll pray you fight the good fight!" Ibiki explained.

Suddenly, something crashed through the window and four kunais were imbedded into the walls of the room to reveal that it was a banner and in front of it stood a woman. On the banner it said "Newly arrived second chief examination officer Mitarashi Anko".

She had black hair in a ponytail, she had slightly pointy ears, she wore a light-brown trench-coat with a fishnet shirt underneath and she wore her Konoha Hitai-ate on her forehead.

"None of you are in any position to celebrate. I am the second examination officer Mitarashi Anko! Times a-wastin', people. Let's go! Follow me!" Anko yelled.

"Can't you sense the mood in here?" Ibiki asked as he stepped out from behind the banner.

'_This new officer almost reminds me… of Naruto.'_ Sakura thought as Anko noticed something.

"78 of you are still here? Ibiki! You passed 26 teams? Obviously you went way too easy on them." Anko said.

"This year… we have applicants of exceptional caliber." Ibiki said.

"Yeah, right. I'll cut down the number by half before the next test is done." Anko said.

'_Cut us down… by half?'_ Sakura thought, wondering what the next exam was going to be.

"Ooh! I get charged up just thinking about it! I'll explain things in detail as soon as we move to our next location… so follow me!" Anko said before she led all of the Genin to where the second exam would be.

Konoha, outside training field 44 a.k.a the Forest of Death

Everyone was standing outside of the fence that surrounded training field 44, also known as the "Forest of Death".

"This is the arena for the second exam: training field 44. Also known as… the Forest of Death!" Anko said.

"It looks like a pretty creepy place." Sakura said.

"You're about to find out firsthand… why they call this the "Forest of Death"!" Anko said.

"Why is it called the forest of Death?" Naruto asked.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. Now, before we begin the second exam, there's something I have to hand out." Anko said as she held up a bunch of paper forms "Their consent forms. Everybody has to sign one."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"We want all the details covered before the first deaths occur. Sign before you go in, so we can't be held liable. You wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you? First I'll explain what the second exam entails. Then you can sign the forms. With the other two members of your team, bring the forms to the hut behind you and submit them." Anko said before she began explaining the exam.

The test this time was first-and-foremost a survival test, each team was given either a heaven or an earth scroll and they would have to forcibly take the opposite scroll from one of the other teams and bring both scrolls to the tower at the forest's center without checking their contents and they had to do it within five days. Not to mention that they also had to get past all of the giant carnivorous animals that lived throughout the forest.

"One final piece of advice… stay alive!" Anko said after the explanation and all of the different applicants went on to signing the forms.

"It's almost time to distribute the scrolls." A Chunin called out from the hut before pulling up a curtain.

'Smart! To keep us in the dark, they're concealing which type of scroll each team gets… and which member is carrying it! It's just like that guy Ibiki said… stealing intelligence is a matter of life and death! Everyone is an enemy! And we're probably all equally determined. If we're all willing to fight to the death, this could become a massacre.' Sasuke thought as he looked down on his consent form.

'Heh heh… it's finally starting to sink in… why we want those consent forms!' Anko thought before yelling "All right, everyone, follow your proctors to your respective gates! When the signal sounds in half an hour, the exam will begin!" The different teams were then brought to different gates around the forest.

Forest of Death, gate 16

At gate 16 were team 8 waiting for the exam to begin.

"Woohoo! If it's survival skills they want, we've got it made! Don't go soft on us, Hinata!" Kiba said and Hinata nervously looked down on the ground.

Forest of Death, gate 27

At gate 27 where team 10.

"A fight to the death? What a drag… but if it's the only way…" Shikamaru said before thinking _'…Looks like Naruto's our target.'_

Forest of Death, gate 12

At gate 12 where team 7.

"Yeah! Yeah! We can't lose, I tell ya! Anyone comes near us, I'll kill 'em myself!" Naruto said.

'_Oh, please!'_ Sakura thought.

Forest of Death, gate 20

At gate 20 were the three Oto-nins.

'_Heh heh… the time has finally come… to carry out our orders in the open.'_ The one that was obviously the leader of the three thought.

Forest of Death, gate 38

At gate 38 were Kabuto and his teammates waiting.

Forest of Death, gate 6

At gate 6 where Gaara's team.

'I've got to look out for enemy teams… but five days in the forest with that creepy Gaara… argh!' Kankuro thought.

Forest of Death, gate 15

At gate 15 where three Kusa-nins.

"Target the rookies first." One of them said.

"It looks like we've got carte blanche to pick them off from here on in which should make our job a lot easier." Another one said.

Forest of Death, gate 41

At gate 41 where last year's rookie team 1.

'_Guy-sensei, I will do my best!'_ Lee thought.

"Part two of the Chunin exam begins… NOW" Anko yelled and the gates opened.

Forest of Death, gate 15

The three Kusa-nins burst through the open gate, having already decided on what team to attack.

"Those three, right?" One of them asked.

"Go for the brats!" Another one said.

Forest of Death, gate 12

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto yelled as they walked through the gate.

Forest of Death, team 8

Three shinobi in black body-suits were jumping through the trees until they heard something and they stopped to look down on team 8 that was standing on the ground below them.

"The tower's where everyone is ultimately going… so we might as well set up traps as close to there as possible." Kiba said before Akamaru picked up the scent of the three ninja that were hiding above them "Found them already, huh? Where are they?"

"Stupid kids… they might as well be shouting, "capture us"! From the sound of things, they know we're somewhere nearby, but they haven't figured out where yet." One of the unknown ninja said before he suddenly felt something on his neck.

"What's wrong? You're as white as a sheet." One of his partners said before noticing a leech that was on the guy's neck and all three looked up to see several other leeches, coming down. The three of them tried to force the leeches off them, but to no avail and they fell down to the ground.

"The flying leeches of Konoha village can sense perspiration and body heat and fling themselves en masse! If you can't get them off your body within five minutes, you're finished. And if you panic trying to get away from them… well… one team down!" Kiba said as one of the three enemy ninja triggered a booby-trap that had been set up by team 8 earlier and the three was trapped in a net, hanging from a tree together with the flying leeches.

Forest of Death, team 7

"Did you guys hear someone scream?" Sakura as ked as they heard the screams of team 8's victims "This place is creeping me out!"

"I'm telling you, Sakura-chan, it's no big deal. Dattebayo!" Naruto said before he felt that he had to go "… Uhhh… I gotta take a leak…" Naruto then walked over to some bushes, but before he could do anything else, Sakura punched him.

"Not in front of me, bozo! I'm a lady! Use the bushes!" Sakura yelled.

'_**If it were Sasuke-kun, on the other hand… heh heh heh…'**_ Her inner self said.

Naruto then walked behind the bushes and after a few seconds Sasuke and Sakura suddenly heard what sounded like someone getting knocked out and they ran to where Naruto was and when they got there, they were surprised to see an Ame-nin lying dead on the ground with Naruto standing above him.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"This Ame-nin suddenly came out and attacked me." Naruto said.

"Could he have thought that Naruto had the scroll?" Sakura asked as she looked at Sasuke.

"No, he probably wanted to knock-out Naruto then pose as him, using a Henge to get his hands on the scroll." Sasuke said.

"Well, we got lucky this time. But if we get separated again, our enemy might succeed and we can't trust each other blindly." Naruto said.

"For once, I agree with Naruto. We need to have a secret password. That way, we'll know. No matter who they look like or how they sound, if one of us gets that wrong… they're an enemy! Listen very carefully. I'll say it only once! It's a poem called "Ninki". When I ask for it, here's what you respond. "We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate"." Sasuke said.

"Bingo!" Sakura said.

"And you expect me to remember that… _how_?" Naruto asked.

"You are such a dobe. I've already got it down!" Sakura said.

What seemingly none of them knew however was that one of the Kusa-nins was hiding underground, listening to everything they said.

'_Very good. Time to pull back and regroup…'_ She thought.

"We need a better password! How about "swordfish"?" Naruto suggested.

"I'll take the scroll." Sasuke said. But just then, a powerful gust of wind swept by.

"A new enemy?" Sasuke asked as he and Sakura managed to jump out of the way, but Naruto was blown away instead. **(Kurama no Kyubi: I write what's going on with Sasuke and Sakura here 'cause that's 100% canon, so if you want to read what happens with them, go read the Manga.)**

Forest of Death, Naruto

Naruto woke up at the base of one of the forest's humongous trees and he looked around.

"Sakura-chan? Sasuke? Where are you, guys?" He yelled, but he didn't get any response and a large snake came up in front of him "Whoa! That snake's HUGE!"

The snake then lunched at him in an attempt to gobble him up, but Naruto managed to jump out of the way in time and he pointed his ring at the snake before firing a fireball at it, and the snake got knocked-out by the fire.

"Whew. That was close." Naruto said before looking around "Hmmm… now to find where the others are."

He then made four small paper birds and sent them out in four different directions. After a few minutes, one of them finally found the two and they seemed to be having some trouble with the one who had attacked them too.

'_All right, there they are! Now, time for the hero to come to the rescue, Chosen style.'_ Naruto thought as he activated his angel wings and flew off to help his friends.

Forest of Death, Sasuke and Sakura

"For shame, letting your guard down! Stay on your toes, like a good prey should! It makes the chase so much more rewarding… for the predator!" The Kusa-nin said as she came out of the skin of a snake that Sasuke had just killed.

She then lunged forward like a snake and started slithering up the tree towards the Uchiha. But then three golden shuriken hit the branch right in front of her before disappearing and everyone looked up to see Naruto standing on a branch above them. Of course, he had been smart enough to put away his wings before they looked up.

'_Spiky, blond hair… cerulean blue eyes… orange clothes… the Chosen One!'_ The Kusa-nin thought before she stood up on her feet and looked straight at Naruto "If I have to fight you, I'd rather prefer it, using my own body!"

'_Huh? What does she mean by that?'_ Sasuke thought before his eyes widened as the Kusa-nin seemed to rip of her face to reveal that _she_ was a _he_, and the Kusa Hitai-ate changed to an Oto Hitai-ate.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Chosen of Regeneration and the Kyubi Jinchuriki!" He said and the eyes of all three Genin widened.

'_Chosen of Regeneration? What does that mean?'_ Sakura thought.

'_The Kyubi Jinchuriki? Naruto? The dobe?'_ Sasuke thought.

"H-how did you know?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Orochimaru! I used to be a member of the Akatsuki, but I left that group about 7 years ago!" The man, now identified as Orochimaru said.

"You were a member of the Akatsuki? Why would they allow someone like you to join them?" Naruto asked.

"What? Haven't they told you? All Akatsuki members started out as S-ranked criminals!" Orochimaru said, causing Naruto's eyes to widen.

Then to Orochimaru's surprise, Naruto closed his eyes and smirked.

"They might have been criminals in the past, but they wouldn't have tried to save the world if they were still like that!" Naruto said and he opened his eyes as he brought out his wings.

'_What the…? Naruto has wings?'_ Sakura thought as her and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Oh, by the way! I thought I should mention that Sasuke-kun's older brother, Uchiha Itachi is also a part of the Akatsuki!" Orochimaru said.

"What?" Sasuke yelled before thinking '_I don't understand much of what's going on here, by what I do get is that Naruto's somehow linked to an organization that my brother is a part of.'_

Naruto then leapt from the branch he was standing on and towards Orochimaru as he pulled a kunai out of the weapons pouch.

"Demon Fang." Naruto called out as he swung the kunai and a crescent shaped wave of energy was sent towards Orochimaru. But the snake just jumped out of the way and the wave went straight through the branch, slicing it in half.

Orochimaru then thrusted his right arm forward and four snakes came out of his sleeve and went straight for the blond, but Naruto then flew out of the way before he headed straight for Orochimaru.

"Tiger Blade." Naruto called out when he had reached Orochimaru and he swung his sword in an upwards slash before swinging it down, the attack didn't seem to have dealt much damage though, and the blond jumped backwards to get some distance.

'_Kuso! I'm hardly dealing him any damage. Seems like I'll have to try that technique, I came up with a few days ago, but it's still far from finished. I don't even know if it'll execute.'_ Naruto thought.

"What are you waiting for, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru asked.

"Well, here goes…! Azure…" Naruto said as he prepared to swing the kunai and the sharp edges on the knife started glowing blue before he called out "… Edge." And he swung the kunai as a blue wave of energy shot towards Orochimaru and it hit, sending the snake into the tree behind him.

"Kukukuku. Is that all you've got? I must say, I was expecting more from the one that had been Chosen by the Angels of Cruxis." Orochimaru said.

"Alright then! If you want me to annihilate you, then just stand there." Naruto said as a white glyph appeared under his feet and golden feathers started floating around him while he weaved a series of hand signs.

"Angel style: Angel Feathers jutsu." He said and three glowing orbs appeared around his head before he said "Shuriken." The three orbs then changed into golden shuriken before they flew towards Orochimaru as they were each followed by a trail of golden feathers.

The shuriken hit the Sannin and he got stuck to a tree, but then he suddenly turned to mud, causing the three Genins eyes to widen.

'_Was that only a form of Kage Bunshin?'_ Naruto thought, not noticing the snake that came up behind him.

"Naruto, behind you!" Sakura yelled and the blond Chosen turned around just in time to see the snake open its mouth, about to gobble him up.

Naruto then quickly formed the tatsu hand sign as the ring's colour changed to silver and the snake suddenly seemed to stop moving just as it began to lower his mouth over the blond.

"What's… going on? The snake just stopped… moving?" Sakura asked in shock as Naruto slowly flew backwards down towards where she and Sasuke were.

"No, I only used the ring to slow down time." Naruto said.

"The ring? Are you talking about that ring that you refuse to ever tell us about?" Sasuke asked.

"Hai!" Naruto said before he resumed time and the snake's mouth closed, but it was surprised when there weren't anyone there.

"Naruto, you baka! Why did you resume time, we could have used the opportunity to get out of here." Sakura yelled.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but it's only got a one-minute time-limit. And after that, there's still a minute till I can slow down time again." Naruto said.

"Is that so?" The three Genin looked up to see Orochimaru standing on the snake's head "I thought that ring looked familiar, that's the Sorcerer's ring! A ring that is able to absorb any elemental power, but I doubt that you have absorbed many elemental powers into that ring so far."

"How do you know so much about this ring?" Naruto asked.

"Every Akatsuki member is required to know everything about it." Orochimaru said.

"But you're no longer a part of that group!" Naruto yelled as he flew towards Orochimaru while his eyes suddenly became slitted crimson, like the eyes of the fox inside of him.

'_And there we have it. Now I can remove him from the battle without having to kill him.'_ Orochimaru thought as he hid his right hand behind his back and what looked like a small flame appeared on each of his fingertips.

When Naruto had reached him, he quickly thrusted his right hand at the Genin's stomach, due to the cloth in-between his fingers and Naruto's stomach, the seal wouldn't be strengthened, but the kid would still be knocked-out for many hours.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto needs you!" Sakura yelled as Orochimaru threw Naruto away while said Chosen's wings faded, but Sasuke was still too shaken up from the snake's earlier attack on them '_He's bound to fall!'_ "NARUTO!" Sakura then threw a kunai towards Naruto and it caught the Genin's jacket before embedding itself in a tree, sticking Naruto to the tree in the process.

The giant snake then lunched towards Sasuke and said Uchiha shut his eyes as he remembered something that his brother had said the last time they saw eachother.

"Ototou, you're pathetic. If you want to kill me, settle for hating me until you can! Hate me… and live like the coward you are! Clinging to life… without honor!"

'_NO!' _Sasuke thought as he opened his eyes to reveal his Sharingan.

'_Heh heh… it appears that the blood of his ancestors is rising up in this one, demanding action.'_ Orochimaru thought.

'_Sasuke-kun!'_ Sakura thought.

'_We'll take our time, so you can show me all your moves!'_ Orochimaru thought as he dispelled his summoning.

Sasuke then took five kunais and what looked like a miniature version of a fuma-shuriken out of his weapons pouch, and he held four of the kunais in his right hand, the miniature fuma-shuriken in his left hand and the last kunai in his mouth.

'_I've been living with the hope of one day killing my older brother. I thought it was the most important thing… but maybe I'm the one who's been the dobe all this time! Naruto… Sakura…!'_ Sasuke thought before he leapt into the air '_… Because someone who can't even stand up and do what has to be done at a time like this… wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against… HIM!'_

Sasuke then threw the kunais he had in his right hand, but Orochimaru dodged all of them before the Uchiha grabbed the side of a tree as he threw the miniature fuma-shuriken, but Orochimaru dodged that too. Sasuke then took the kunai he had in his mouth ot as he coated it in chakra and he threw it at Orochimaru, but the snake simply sidestepped it.

'_Not bad! The way he anticipates my every move… the accuracy of his targeting… he sees me!'_ Orochimaru thought before he noticed wires attached to the shuriken and kunai, with the one that was attached to the shuriken going back to Sasuke so that said shuriken moved back towards him '_String?'_

"A Sofushasan no Tachi!" Orochimaru said in surprise as the shuriken moved closer to him.

"He did it!" Sakura yelled, but then she and Sasuke saw that Orochimaru had caught the shuriken… with his mouth.

'_He flawlessly perceived my escape route and struck along a path I didn't see myself…'_ Orochimaru thought before saying "Heh… such a shame…" He got cut off however when he noticed that the Uchiha had formed the tora sign _'He means to use Katon: Ryuka no jutsu!"_

Sasuke then sent a wave of fire along the wire towards Orochimaru, but Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened when they saw that the snake remained unscathed.

"That one so young should have such mastery of the Sharingan…! Truly a worthy successor of the honored name of clan Uchiha! In fact… I believe… I want you, after all…!" Orochimaru said.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she ran over to where Sasuke was standing before she looked towards Orochimaru and suddenly she found that she couldn't move.

"It's marvelous fun, having you show me all your tricks! You really a_re_ Itachi-san's brother, aren't you? You can see – and conceal – things with those eyes of yours that Itachi-san himself never dreamed of!" Orochimaru said.

"What do you want?" Sasuke yelled, but Orochimaru ignored his question.

"If you'd ever like a rematch… then pass this exam as quickly as you can! I'll see you again, if you manage to defeat the three Oto-nins who answer to me." He said.

"Wh-what are you babbling on about? We never want to see your face again!" Sakura yelled.

"Perhaps not… but wishing won't chase me away." Orochimaru said as he made a hand sign before his neck suddenly extended and his head lunged towards Sasuke and bit down on said Uchiha's neck before Orochimaru's neck retracted.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Sasuke-kun… in the quest for power!" The snake said after his neck had returned to its normal length.

"Wh-what…? Everything… hurts!" Sasuke said as he brought his hand over his neck where Orochimaru had bitten him as three black tormoe suddenly appeared there.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura yelled as Orochimaru started to sink down into the ground.

"Just a little something to remember me by…" He said before Sasuke screamed.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled.

Forest of Death, team Guy

Lee, Neji and Tenten were sitting in the forest as they were eating.

"It'll probably start to get light in the next hour or so. We were able to use our first day to secure food and water. Most of the teams will be resting now… making this the best time to act. Let's split up… and reconnoiter for the next half hour. But whatever you find, when the time is up… be sure you're back here. Got it?" Neji said as he dropped a kunai down on the ground with the pointy end first.

"Okay!" Tenten said.

"Roger!" Lee said.

"Good…! Ikuzo!" Neji said and they shunshined in three different directions.

Forest of Death, team 7

Sakura had put her two teammates under a tree. She had also removed Sasuke's Hitai-ate and placed a wet cloth on his forehead to keep his fever down. She then removed the cloth and placed her hand on the Uchiha's forehead.

'_His breathing is improving, but… his fever's still so high!'_ She thought before placing the cloth back and thinking '_I… I've… I've got to protect them both!'_

What she wasn't aware of however, was that in the bushes were the three Oto-nins hiding.

"Heh heh… there they are! As Orochimaru-sama commanded, we'll strike at dawn! And our target is Uchiha Sasuke!" The apparent leader of the three said.

"If the other two get in our way, we can take 'em out, right?" One of the other two asked.

"Of course!" The leader of the three said.

As dawn started coming, Sakura was still awake, hoping that Naruto and Sasuke would awaken soon.

'_I can't let myself sleep…'_ She thought as she looked up to see some light coming down '_Oh! It's already dawn?'_

She then noticed something approaching from behind and she pulled out a kunai from her pouch and slowly turned around, but she saw that it was just a squirrel.

'_A squirrel…?'_ She thought before saying "What are you up to, scaring me like that?"

The squirrel then moved towards her and she noticed that it got dangerously close to one of the traps, she had laid there. She then threw the kunai and it hit the ground just in front of the squirrel before said squirrel then ran away.

'_That was close. That was too close!'_ Sakura thought.

"That's pretty tightly wound. I wonder if she noticed the explosive tag we stuck on the squirrel!" One of the Oto-nins said.

"No… that's not it…" The leader of the three said.

"What then, Dosu? What's going on?" One of the others said.

"… We'll have to get closer to find out. So… what are we waiting for?" The leader of the three, now identified as Dosu said.

Forest of Death, Lee

Lee jumped from branch-to-branch through the forest until he eventually stopped at one of the branches as he saw 20 tree-leaves falling down.

'_If I can catch all 20 of these leaves before any of them hits the ground, then Sakura-san will fall in love with me! But if I miss even one… then my love for her will never be requited! And she'll probably make fun of my hair!'_ He thought before leaping down towards the leaves and he started catching them, one-by-one.

'_Just one more try…'_ He thought as he reached for the last leaf, but then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye '_It's…!'_ He saw a squirrel that had an explosive tag on its back.

BOOM!

As the smoke cleared, Lee lied on the ground with the squirrel in his left hand and the explosive tag in his right.

"Just in the nick of time! An explosive tag… on a very short timer. Who would do something so cruel?" Lee said as he crunched the tag.

Forest of Death, team 7

"Heh heh… you've been up all night standing guard, eh?" Sakura heard a voice from behind her and she turned around to see the three Oto-nins.

"As of now, you're off duty. Just wake Sasuke for us. the three of us want to take him on." Dosu said.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I know that some guy named Orochimaru is the one who's pulling all the strings… so what do you want?" Sakura yelled, shocking the three Oto-nins before she continued "What does this mark on Sasuke-kun's neck mean? And what did Orochimaru mean by Naruto being the Chosen of Regeneration?" **(Kurama no Kyubi: As if the three of them would know that. If Orochimaru would tell any of his subordinates about the Chosen, it'd be Kabuto.)**

"Hmm… I wonder what Orochimaru-sama's up to?" Dosu said as Sakura was wondering what he was talking about.

"Whatever… I can't walk away after hearing that! I'll destroy you, girl… and your little Sasuke-kun, too!" One of the other two Oto-nins said.

"Wait, Zaku!" Dosu said.

"Wait? Why?" The Oto-nin, now identified as Zaku asked before Dosu took a few steps forward before kneeling down.

"It's obvious… freshly turned stones, exposed soil… grass in a place it would never grow… someone's been setting booby traps… but what's the point of laying them if you leave evidence that warns your pray?" Dosu said as he ripped away the grass that Sakura had laid down.

"It's amateurish! So… the person who threw the kunai was trying to stop the squirrel from springing the trap?" Zaku said.

"Well, the girl is no use to us… so let's eliminate her first." Dosu said before he and his two teammates jumped into the air.

They didn't notice however that they were walking straight into Sakura's trap as she cut a string with her kunai while smirking, and a log suddenly swung down towards the three.

"A log? The trap was _above_ us all along!" Dosu yelled before he put his right hand on the log and said "Very funny!" He then made a one-handed hand sign with his left hand and the log suddenly blew up to Sakura's surprise "To be honest… you know you're a complete no-talent, don't you? Stop dogging it and start working at it! it's an insult being underestimated by slackers like you!"

"Konoha Senpou!" The three Oto-nins were suddenly kicked back as none other than Rock Lee landed in front of Sakura.

'_Whoa… it's that guy who…?'_ Sakura thought.

"Look at who's talking…! Try taking your own advice!" Lee said.

"Wh-who are you?" Dosu asked.

"Konoha's handsome blue beast… Rock Lee!" Lee said.

(Lee received the title: Blue Beast: possessing both great speed and great strength, he can only be called a beast… a blue beast.)

"Where did you come from?" Sakura asked.

"I came... because you needed me. And I always will!" Lee said before he put down the squirrel which had just been on his shoulder while thinking _'Actually, it's thanks to my little friend here…'_

"I don't know how to thank you. You're a lifesaver!" Sakura said.

"I promised when we met… to protect you… until death do us part!" Lee said and Sakura thought back to what Lee had said when they met.

"I'll protect you with my life!"

'_Yes! I understand! I get it, Guy-sensei!'_ Lee thought.

"They're as good as dead!" Dosu said as he got ready to attack.

'_From the looks of it… Sakura-san doesn't have any more fight left in her, either.'_ Lee thought as Sakura started to pull out a kunai from her weapons pouch.

'_This unibrow kid is obviously a virtuoso of Taijutsu. He'll make an excellent plaything.'_ Dosu thought as he ran towards the two Konoha-nins.

Sakura then threw the kunai, but Dosu jumped into the air and came down towards Lee, who punched his right arm through the ground and he pulled up the roots of a tree to block Dosu's punch.

"This is some kind of illusion, right? So, I'd be wasting my time ducking as though your attacks were real. I've seen you use these moves before." Lee said.

'_He's… so strong!'_ Sakura thought.

'_But there's three of them and one of me, so they have the advantage. It's a gamble, but if I take them one at a time… my strength should be enough to beat them!'_ Lee thought.

Forest of Death, team 10

"Gah! How can we pick off the weak when we can't find any weaklings?" Ino asked.

"Well… besides Naruto's team, of course!" Shikamaru said.

"What are you talking about, you baka?" Ino yelled.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"Naruto and Sakura are total losers… but they're teamed up with Sasuke-kun, the best of the best!" Ino yelled.

"Now, why is that? Maybe your precious Sasuke-kun is better in theory than he is in practice!" Shikamaru said, but when he saw the mad look on Ino's face, he said "All right, all right, sorry for dissing your idol!" '_… That girl is a total drag. Every time I open my mouth about Sasuke, she goes off on me!'_

"There's no way anyone here is going to beat Sasuke-kun. But Sakura? She's a complete wimp!" Ino said as Choji saw something on the other side of some bushes.

"Hey! Sasuke's unconscious! And Sakura's defending him." He said and Ino and Shikamaru looked towards where Choji was looking.

Forest of Death, team Guy

Neji and Tenten were both back at their rendezvous point, but there were no sign of Lee anywhere.

"It's not like Lee-san to keep us waiting! It's odd… he's usually such a stickler about punctuality. … I wonder if he ran into trouble…" Tenten said.

"Not him! No way. But we should still look for him." Neji said.

"Right!" Tenten said before they shunshined away.

Forest of Death, team 7

'_Guy-sensei… the time has surely come for me to use the forbidden move you taught me… and not hold back!'_ Lee thought as he unwrapped the bandages around his arms '_I'm defending the life of someone who means the world to me!'_ Lee then crouched down before disappearing.

'_Where'd he go?'_ Dosu wondered just before Lee appeared under him and with one powerful kick to the jaw, sent him high into the air before jumping after.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Lee said when he came up behind the Oto-nin and his bandages suddenly wrapped themselves around Dosu and the two of them spiraled – head-first – towards the ground.

"He's wide open… can't make a move to defend himself! Oh, crud!" Zaku said as he weaved a series of hand signs.

"Take this! Omote Renge!" Lee said just before they hit the ground.

Lee then jumped away at the last second, but as he landed he saw that the ground that Dosu had landed on had somehow been turn to a pillow of soil.

"Whew… looks like I made it…" Zaku said before he pulled his hands out of the ground.

"No way!" Lee yelled when Dosu got back up on his feet.

"… What a terrible technique… I managed to land on a pillow of soil… and it still almost wiped me out! But now… it's my turn…" Dosu said as he got ready to attack.

'_Oh… this is not good… that last move I did just toasted me. I've got nothing!'_ Lee thought just before Dosu ran towards him and swung his right arm. Lee barely managed to dodge it, but then he fell down on his knees.

"Your moves may be fast… but ours are super-sonic! And muscles alone can't break down… this wall of sound!" Dosu said and Lee suddenly vomited.

"LEE-SAN!" Sakura yelled.

'_My left ear…'_ Lee thought as he felt an intensive pain in said air and he brought his hand up to it.

"It's this appliance on my arm… you see? It prevents you… from breaking my attacks." Dosu said.

"What did you use on him?" Sakura asked.

"Heh heh heh… it's sound! Even if you block my fist, the sound waves reach you." Dosu said.

'_Sound?'_ Lee thought.

"Do you understand… the fundamental nature of sound?" Dosu asked.

"Vibrations…?" Sakura guessed.

"Precisely. When you hear a sound, it's actually those vibrations displacing the air, which trembles against your eardrum. And the human eardrum – the tympanic membrane – ruptures when exposed to sound levels in excess of 150 phons. Moreover, if the sound is powerful enough to upset the semi-circular canals of the inner ear… it becomes impossible for you to maintain your balance. Heh heh… and it will be some time… before your equilibrium returns." Dosu explained.

"So, you see, crude, old-fashioned Taijutsu simply won't don't work against us. you did start out very well, though. It's rare for a foe to force me to reveal the nature of my techniques. But now the tide has turned against you! I can wield sound waves as a weapon… with enough force to crush entire boulders! And with a mere thought I can use sound waves to force air into the earth beneath me, transforming rock-hard soil into the softest kind of cushion… a far more elegant and effective art than your crude application of brute force." Zaku said.

'_Blast him…'_ Lee thought as he remembered what Guy had told him after he had learned the Omote Renge.

"The only time you may use this technique… is to protect someone very dear to you."

"… To protect… someone dear to me…?"

"But even if you never employ it, I'm very proud of you for mastering this technique! Good work, Lee!"

'_Darn it…'_ Lee thought.

"And now… it's your turn." Dosu said as he charged towards Sakura.

"Blast…!" Lee said.

'_He's coming!'_ Sakura thought as she prepared herself, but then to her surprise Lee jumped in front of her.

"WHAT?" Dosu yelled in surprise before thinking '_Impossible!'_

'_Lee-san!'_ Sakura thought as Lee moved in for a roundhouse kick.

"Konoha Senpou!" Lee called out, but he then felt great pain in his left ear and Dosu managed to jump over Lee's kick.

"My last attack is finally showing some effect! You startled me at first… but now, where's that fast, laser-sharp attack of just a few moments ago?" Dosu said as he attempted to slam the underside of his arm on Lee's head, but said Taijutsu user managed to block it.

"This arm of mine magnifies every little sound from within to the utmost limits. It's an amplifier… and it goes to 11!" Dosu said as powerful waves of sound came out of his amplifier and went into Lee's left ear "And not only that, but far from relying on the momentum of my arm's swing… I can use my chakra to direct its power toward my chosen prey, wherever he may lie!"

"LEE-SAN!" Sakura yelled as Lee fell down to the ground.

"Now… for the coup de grace!" Dosu said.

"I don't think so!" Sakura yelled as she pulled out several kunai and shuriken. She then threw the kunai at Dosu, but said Oto-nin easily blocked it with his amplifier.

"… Oh… my…" He said.

Forest of Death, team 10

"Running away sounds like a good plan! Those guys are getting creamed!" Choji whispered as they watched the battle that was going on.

"It looks like Sasuke and Naruto are just unconscious… but… the famous Lee's obviously had his butt kicked, and Sakura's all alone… what are you going to do Ino?" Shikamaru whispered.

"Why… why are you asking me?" Ino asked.

"I mean, Sakura's in deep! We can't just leave her… can we? Wasn't she, like your best friend or something?" Shikamaru whispered and Ino suddenly thought back to when she and Sakura first became rivals.

"Um… Ino-chan?"

"What's up, Sakura?"

"I heard someone saying…"

"Saying what?"

"Saying that you like Sasuke-kun, too!"

"What?"

"If it's true… that makes us… rivals!"

'_Why am I remembering that now?'_ The Yamanaka heiress thought.

"Hey, Ino! What's it gonna be?" Shikamaru asked.

"There's nothing we can do. If we blunder in now… we may just make things worse!" Ino whispered, trying not to yell before thinking '_Those guys would take me out in about 10 seconds flat! Not even I… can beat them!'_

Forest of Death, team 7

Sakura threw the shuriken, but Zaku came up in front of the throwing-stars before sending them back towards Sakura with a wave of sound.

'_My shuriken… were repelled by a wall of air!'_ Sakura thought as she dodged them, but then the female member of the Oto team grabbed the Konoha kunoichi's hair.

"Lovely hair… so much more bounce and shine than mine has! What ninja technique is that, Deep Conditioning no jutsu? You're a disgrace to all shinobi… fussing with your looks when you should concentrate on your training!" The female Oto-nin said before looking at Zaku "Zaku… why don't you finish of Sasuke or one of her other fallen heart-throbs… right in front of this lovesick little pig? The least we can do… is entertain her!"

"Hah! Good one!" Zaku said before walking towards where Naruto and Sasuke were lying.

'_No! They wouldn't…!'_ Sakura thought.

"Hold still!" The female Oto-nin said.

'_S-Sakura-san…'_ Lee thought.

'_I can't summon any strength… I… I can't… I'm just a burden to them… just someone they have to protect! I'm always in the way… never helping. Darn it! I thought this time… it would be different! This time… I need to help the people I care about!'_ Sakura thought.

"All right. Let's do it." Zaku said as he got closer to the two sleeping Genins.

"Hey! Sasuke and Naruto are in deep trouble!" Shikamaru whispered.

'_Wh-what'll we do?'_ Ino wondered.

The female Oto-nin then noticed that Sakura pulled out a kunai.

"Your tricks are useless against me, little girl." She said.

"You think so?" Sakura said before she – to everyone's surprise – cut her hair so that she got free from the Oto-nin's hold.

"What…?" The female Oto-nin said in surprise.

'_I'd always… thought of myself as a full-fledged ninja… proud to be an equal as I trailed after my teammates… crushing on Sasuke-kun and scolding Naruto… watching them… safely from the background. While they… would both risk anything to protect me. Lee-san says he likes me, too… and he risked his life to come between me and danger. You're all my teachers… and you've shown me what I want to be… like all of you. Now it's your turn… to watch my back!'_ Sakura thought as she stood up on her feet and her Hitai-ate fell off and landed on the ground.

'_Sakura…?'_ Ino thought.

"Ha! Kin! Finish her!" Zaku yelled and the female Oto-nin, now identified as Kin pulled several senbons from her weapons pouch and charged at Sakura who was currently weaving a series of hand signs.

'_Those signs she's making…!'_ Zaku thought just before Kin slammed her senbons into the pinkette's back, but Sakura just turned into a log '_Zigging when I zagged… she's making a mockery of this, trying to deceive us with such a rudimentary technique!"_

Zaku then noticed that Sakura came running for him, with four kunais in each hand.

'_The nerve of her, coming right for me!'_ Zaku thought before yelling "Kin, look out!"

Kin then jumped out of the way as Sakura threw the kunais towards Zaku.

"Give it up." Zaku said before thinking '_The air pressure is at full strength, with no ultra-sonic output…'_

He then saw that Sakura weaved the signs for Kawarimi no jutsu again.

"Poor, foolish girl… just a one-trick pony. Zankuha!" Zaku said as he sent a sound-wave straight towards Sakura and the kunais were deflected back at her, but she once again turned into a log "Obviously… you're over-head!"

Zaku then looked up to see that Sakura was indeed above him as she weaved the same sequence of hand signs again and Zaku pulled out four kunais from his pouch.

"Try it twice, try it thrice… that trick will never work on me! My smallest skill is more than enough for you!" He said as he threw the kunais towards the kunoichi and he then started to look around, trying to find out where'd she come from next "Heh heh… come out, come out, wherever you…" He got interrupted however, when a drop of blood landed on his face and he looked up to see Sakura with three of the kunais still stabbed into her while she was holding the fourth on in her left hand '_What the…? This time… it's real!'_

Sakura then fell down onto Zaku and she stabbed his right arm before biting his left.

"Get off!" Zaku yelled.

'_Sakura…'_ Ino thought as she recalled the first time she met the pinkette, as well as when she introduced her to her other friends and the time when Sakura first told them that she had a crush on Sasuke-kun and the time when they met after having been assigned into teams.

Zaku then managed to get Sakura off of him and he got ready to kill her.

"Th-this is not good…!" Choji whispered.

"Ino! Ino… come on!" Shikamaru whispered.

'_They need me… to protect them…'_ Sakura thought.

"You little witch!" Zaku yelled as he prepared to fire, but then to everyone's surprise, team 10 came up in front of Sakura, with Shikamaru holding onto Choji's scarf "Hmm. The freak parade just goes on and on…"

"Ino…" Sakura said.

"Sakura… I told you… I'd never let you show me up!" Ino said.

"More of these annoying little bugs from Konoha have crept in… and started swarming." Dosu said.

"Wh-what are you guys thinking? Those creeps are too dangerous! They'll eat us alive! Shikamaru… let go of me!" Choji yelled.

"Nope! No way. Sorry, buddy, but that's the way it is! We're the men here! We can't run away when Ino's ready to risk her life fighting! Not even if we die!" Shikamaru said.

"Sorry I dragged you boys into this! But we are a three-man team… all for one and one for all." Ino said.

"What's meant to happen will, I guess!" Shikamaru said.

"Heh heh… we'll let you off the hook if you want to run… fatty." Zaku said.

"What did that guy just say? I… could've sworn he called me…" Choji said.

'_That word's a big no-no with Choji… if this guy says it again…!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"You're welcome to run away… if you can find a hiding place that's big enough… fatso!" Zaku said.

"I'M NOT FAT! I'M JUST PLEASINGLY PLUMP!" Choji yelled as he snapped "Pleasingly plump people UNITE!"

'_Unreal!'_ Sakura thought.

"Does everyone understand? Do you get me? Konoha and the Oto ninja are at war!" Choji yelled.

'_Good luck! Choji's lost it!'_ Ino thought.

"This is turning into a complete drag!" Shikamaru said as he let go of Choji's scarf.

"… It certainly is." Zaku said before thinking '_Our orders were to find and kill Uchiha Sasuke under the cover of this exam, but…'_

"Sakura…! Stay here and watch over your team." Ino said.

"Right!" Sakura said.

"This is it, team Ino. Up and at 'em, full speed ahead!" Ino yelled.

"Yes, ma'am!" Shikamaru said.

"Ino-Shika-Cho formation! It's on you, Choji!" Ino yelled as Choji made a hand sign.

"Okay! Baika no jutsu!" Choji said and he suddenly became twice as big and looked like a ball with tiny arms, legs and head "Nikudan Sensha."

Choji's arms, legs and head then went into his body as he started rolling towards Zaku.

"What kind of freakin' jutsu is that? Hm. Just a fat guy rolling himself around! Zankuha!" Zaku said as he sent a sound-wave at Choji, but said Akimichi managed to hold his own and after a few seconds, he jumped up into the air "Flying? How is that possible?"

'_With that kind of rotation… so much for air pressure! Maybe ultra-sonic waves…? If that thing hits me, I'll be pulverized!'_ Zaku thought as Choji came down towards him. Seeing as though Zaku was in trouble, Dosu ran towards him, but Shikamaru noticed it.

'_Oh, no you don't! Since you've been the biggest drag in everybody's ascot… Kagemane no jutsu!'_ He thought and suddenly his shadow stretched and hit Dosu's own shadow, paralyzing the Oto-nin.

'_I… can't move! Why is that? It's his shadow!'_ Dosu thought as Zaku managed to dodge Choji.

"Wh-what are you doing at a time like this? Dosu!" Kin yelled.

"Ino! The woman is the only one left." Shikamaru said and Ino made a hand sign.

"You got it, Shikamaru! Take care of my body while I'm gone!" Ino said.

"Gotcha!" Shikamaru said.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!" Ino said and she suddenly fell asleep as Shikamaru caught her before she hit the ground.

"Man, that makes my head spin!" Choji said as he stood up on his feet.

Kin suddenly pulled out a kunai and held it up to her own throat proving that it was actually Ino, in Kin's body.

"You're finished! If either of you makes a move, your teammate Kin is as good as dead! Both of you, leave your scrolls here, and go finish the exam without them. When I can no longer sense either of your chakras, I'll release Kin!" She yelled, but she was puzzled when she saw both of them, smirking '_What do they think is so funny?'_

"They're going to…!" Sakura shouted when she figured what the Oto-nins were planning and Zaku pointed his left arm at Ino/Kin "NO!"

Zaku then sent a sound-wave straight at Ino/Kin and she was sent flying into a tree before she fell down to the ground as blood came out both Kin and Ino's mouths.

"INO…!" Shikamaru yelled.

"… Wh-what unbelievable lowlifes… to wound your own comrade!" Ino/Kin said.

"You underestimated us… bad mistake." Zaku said.

"Our objective is not some stupid scroll… nor have we any interest in passing your infantile exam." Dosu said to everyone's surprise before he continued "We're after Sasuke!"

'_Blast… I'm almost at my time limit!'_ Shikamaru thought just before his shadow detached itself from Dosu's and retracted back to him.

"So… your little trick can only work for five minutes at a time? And as for the jutsu that girl is using… from the look of things, if we inflict any harm on her host, her real body suffers as well! Heh heh… we can kill her by killing Kin ourselves!" Dosu said.

"You make me sick!" Everyone looked towards where the voice came from to see none other than Naruto, getting back up on his feet.

"Naruto…!" Sakura said as Naruto walked past her.

"You're up against me, now!" Naruto said.

"Heh heh… you think that you're so tough? You've been sleeping through this whole thing, so you don't know what we're capable of!" Zaku said.

"He's right, Naruto! You won't stand a chance against them." Shikamaru yelled.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that!" Naruto said before he looked down on his ring to see that it was still silver and he smirked.

"Zankuha." Zaku said as sound-wave came towards where, Naruto, Sakura, Lee and Sasuke where and the sound-wave hit, leaving no trace of them left.

"Guys!" The three members of team 10 yelled.

"Heh heh… not even a trace of them left, I guess I put too much power into the attack than I had intended to. Well, since Sasuke was there, that ends our mission." Zaku said.

"And now, for the three of you!" Dosu said as he and Zaku looked at the other three present.

"Not so fast!" Everyone turned towards the voice to see Naruto standing there over the barely conscious bodies of Sakura and Lee and the still unconscious body of Sasuke.

"What? How could you all escape?" Zaku asked.

"You guys are using sound, right? Well, I'm able to use something that's _much_ faster!" Naruto said.

"And what would that be?" Dosu asked.

"Time!" Naruto said to everyone's shock.

"Time? But that's impossible, no one can control time." Dosu said.

"Maybe, but do you see this ring, here? It recently gained the ability to slow down time to the point where I could even see the rays of light that comes from the sun." Naruto said as he held out his hand to show them the ring. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Okay, now I **_**really**_** want that ring of his.)**

"Maybe, but something like that would be far too convenient. I'm guessing that there must be limitations to how long you can have time slowed down." Dosu said.

"Perhaps." Naruto said before he made his favorite hand sign and said "Kage Bunshin no jutsu."

Two Naruto clones appeared and the three of them charged at Dosu, but said Oto-nin swung his right arm and all three Narutos disappeared in puffs of smoke.

'_What? All three of them were clones?'_ Dosu thought as his eyes widened.

The Oto-nin then sensed something coming at him and he used the amplifier on his right arm as a shield. But he was surprised when a kunai made out of paper embedded itself into the amplifier.

'_A paper kunai?'_ Dosu thought as he and everyone else there wondered what Naruto was thinking, throwing paper kunais. But then, Dosu noticed the seals on the Kunai and he thought '_An explosive tag?'_

BOOM

As the smoke cleared however, everyone could see that Dosu was still standing, but the amplifier had several cracks on it.

"Looks like that thing on your arm has seen better days." Naruto said as he jumped down from a tree "And from the looks of it, it seems like you won't win this."

"Heh… and why's that?" Zaku said and Naruto only replied by looking towards where his teammates and Lee were and everyone followed his gaze to see that Sasuke was awake.

"Sasuke-kun! You're awake!" Sakura yelled, but as Sasuke stood up, they could see that there was something different about him, half of his body was covered in black flame-like marks and there was an ominous air about him.

'_Is that…Sasuke-kun?'_ Ino/Kin thought.

"Sakura… point out the ones who pummeled you into that state!" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura said, hardly recognizing her crush.

"Who was it…?" Sasuke asked.

'_The energies of the curse… they're working their way around hi entire body!'_ Dosu thought.

"It was us!" Zaku said.

"Sasuke-kun… your body…?" Sakura said as Sasuke looked down on his left hand before looking towards the Oto-nins.

"Nothing to worry about. I feel fine… strong… bursting with power! I got it from him. I understand now. I am an avenger… on the path I walk, I have to do whatever it takes to gain power… even if it means selling my flash to the devil!" Sasuke said.

(Sasuke received the title: Avenger: As a child, he witnessed the deaths of his entire clan by the hands of his own older brother, and he'll do whatever it takes to gain the power he needs to take revenge.)

'_Just as I thought… the mark on his neck that little Sakura was blathering about is the curse mark that was put on him… he's channeled and mimicked it… and finally made it to his feet!'_ Dosu thought.

"So… it was you." Sasuke said as he glared at the three Oto-nins.

"Ino! If you stay in that form, you'll be dragged into this! Get back to your own body! Choji, let's get moving! It's time we got out of here!" Shikamaru yelled as he ran while carrying Ino's body.

'_Aw, man! KAI!'_ Ino/Kin thought as she made a hand sign and she returned to her own body.

"Good! Welcome back!" Shikamaru said as he saw that Ino started to wake up.

'_That's… his chakra's immense! Too large for his body to contain, even after we…!'_ Dosu thought.

"Snap out of it, Dosu! Just because he refuses to die…" Zaku said before he extended both arms towards the Uchiha.

"Zaku, no! Don't you get it?" Dosu yelled.

"Zankukyokuha." Zaku called out and a massive sound-wave shot towards Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Lee "Hah! Blew those pipsqueaks to bits."

"What pipsqueaks are those?" the Naruto, Sakura and Lee where now behind Zaku while Sasuke stood next to him and swung his left arm at him, sending the Oto-nin flying.

'_He's fast!'_ Dosu noted before Sasuke made the tora sign.

"Katon: Housenka no jutsu." Sasuke called out the name of his attack and several fire balls were fired at Zaku.

"You're getting over-confident! I can just blow these out!" Zaku yelled as he sent a sound wave that blew out the fire, but then he saw that there was a shuriken hidden in each fire ball "What?" '_There are shuriken within the flames?'_ Several of the shuriken hit him and suddenly, the Uchiha appeared under him.

"Zaku! Beneath you!" Dosu yelled, but it was too late as Sasuke grabbed Zaku's right arm before jumping over him and grabbing his left arm. The Uchiha then put his foot on Zaku's back.

'_Sasuke-kun's chakra is completely unlike what it was when we were in school together! Is it really Sasuke-kun? What on earth happened to him…?'_ Ino thought.

"Heh… you take such pride in your arms… time to bid them farewell." Sasuke said before he started pushing his foot down while simultaneously pulling Zaku's arms, breaking them before he dropped the Oto-nin down on the ground.

'… _That was…'_ Sakura thought.

"And then there was one." Sasuke said as he looked towards Dosu "I hope you're more of a challenge."

Sasuke then started walking towards Dosu, but Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Stop, Sasuke! I think they get the picture!" He said.

"Out of my way, Naruto!" Sasuke said before he pushed Naruto to the side and continued walking, but Naruto then came up behind him and put his hand over the curse mark on Sasuke's neck.

"Sweet dreams!" Naruto said and the Uchiha suddenly fell down on the ground, unconscious as the marks on his body receded.

"Naruto, what did you…?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! He's only sleeping." Naruto said before looking at Dosu.

'_How was that Naruto able to stop the curse mark on Sasuke?'_ Dosu thought.

"I suggest that you leave now and take your friends with you. Oh, and you could leave your scroll with us." Naruto said and Dosu put down his earth scroll before picking up his teammates.

"WAIT!" Sakura yelled as Dosu was about to leave "You've got to tell me! Who is Orochimaru? What does he want with Sasuke-kun? And… why was Sasuke-kun the one he chose?"

"I don't know… we were just following orders." Dosu said as he walked away before thinking '_You ordered us to murder Sasuke, but you got to him first! And instead of killing him, you marked him with that curse! What's your game?'_

"Hey! Are you all all right?" Shikamaru asked as he, Ino and Choji came running towards them.

Just then, Neji and Tenten – who had gotten there about the same time as Naruto woke up – jumped down from a tree and Tenten ran over to Lee to wake him up while Neji walked towards Naruto.

"Where did you get that ring?" He asked.

"There's no point in…" Shikamaru started, but he was cut off by Naruto.

"It's a secret!" Naruto said.

"I see." Neji said before he turned around and left, quickly followed by Lee and Tenten.

"I suppose we should get going too, see ya around!" Shikamaru said as he and his teammates left.

Naruto and Sakura then heard a groan and they turned around to see that Sasuke was regaining consciousness.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she hugged him.

"S-Sakura…?" Sasuke said in a low tone as he tried to get up in a sitting position as he pushed Sakura off of him and looked at Naruto "Alright, Naruto, now tell us what Orochimaru meant with "Chosen of Regeneration"!"

"Very well, but it'll be a long story." Naruto said as he sat down "But first, you'll have to promise to never tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, understand?"

"Very well." Sasuke said and Naruto sighed, this was gonna be a long day.

Forest of Death, day 4

It had been more than two days since Naruto had told them about him being the Chosen One and about what he was supposed to do. Of course, Sasuke didn't like it that Naruto was the one who had been chosen and not him.

Naruto had also told them what little he knew of the Akatsuki and about who his parents were, making the Uchiha even more upset. Not only was Naruto – the dobe – the one chosen by the Angels, but he was also one of the last members of the great Uzumaki clan, a clan that was equal to even the Uchiha and Senju.

And to make things even worse, Naruto was also the Kyubi Jinchuriki, which is the main reason of why he's the one who's developing fastest out of the three of them. Well, at least Naruto was kind enough to let them have a look at several jutsu scrolls that he had found in Uzushio. There was even one for Katon jutsus, which even showed some techniques that didn't even look like jutsus at all. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Those'll be Magic Artes. Yes the Uzumaki clan had knowledge of Artes.)**

Naruto had also showed the two some of the techniques he learned from his battle with Cress, such as Demon Fang and Tiger Blade. Though it seemed that only Sasuke was able to learn them.

"Katon: Karyudan no jutsu." A dragon made out of fire flew through the air as it headed for Naruto, but the Uzumaki dodged it before swinging his kunai in a downwards slash.

"Demon Fang." He called out as the kunai hit the ground and a wave of energy flew through the air towards the Uchiha.

Sasuke dodged the energy and ran towards Naruto before slashing his kunai upwards while jumping up himself, bringing Naruto with him.

"Tiger Blade." He then swung the kunai downwards as both he and Naruto came down towards the ground, but as they landed, the blond disappeared in a puff of smoke '_Kage Bunshin?'_

Sasuke then sensed something to his right and he jumped out of the way just before three paper kunais shot by him and he looked towards where they came from to see Naruto. Then, a red glyph suddenly appeared under the Uchiha's feet.

"Time to end this fight, Naruto! Fire…" BOOM. The fire balls – instead of forming around him like they should have – blew up in his face and sent him flying backwards into a tree.

"Whoa, when you said it was time to end this fight, I didn't think you'd actually blow yourself up." Naruto teased.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke said as he stood up on his feet before they heard Sakura calling for them.

"The food's ready guys!" She called out to them.

"Coming, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he ran back towards the river that they were camping next to.

Later, they were sitting around a fire as they ate fish.

"The second exam started four days ago, Right?" Sasuke said.

"Yeah." Naruto said.

"And it began around 2:30 P.M… so it will be over in less than 26 hours." Sasuke said.

"A lot of teams must have finished by now. Which means…" Sakura said as Naruto held up their two scrolls.

"… Which means, people will be getting desperate." Naruto said.

"Hey, there!" The three of them then turned to see none other than Kabuto standing there.

"Kabuto-san!" Naruto said.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"I got separated from my team a while back, and I'm on my way to the tower to meet up with them, guess it was just pure luck that I ran into you guys." Kabuto said.

"Wait, are you implying that you've got both scrolls?" Naruto asked and Kabuto brought his hand into his weapons pouch.

"Bingo!" He said when he pulled out two scrolls.

"In that case, I think it'd be a good idea to go to the tower together." Naruto said.

"I agree, the fact that both you and I have a complete set each, makes us targets for everyone that doesn't have a complete set, so it would be a good idea to travel together." Kabuto said.

"Alright, then! Let's get to that tower!" Naruto yelled and the four of them shunshined away.

Forest of Death, tower

When the group of four finally reached the tower the next morning, two Konoha-nins wearing black clothes approached them.

"Huh? … Oh, it's you guys… you're late, Kabuto-san!" One of them said.

"Sorry. I ran into a little trouble." Kabuto said before turning to the younger Genins "This is the door we enter through. Good luck, everyone. Give it your best!"

"Yeah!" Naruto said before he and his two teammates walked towards the door that they were supposed to go through.

Forest of Death, tower, team Kabuto

"What was the outcome…?" A voice said as Kabuto and his two teammates entered the room.

"They've already exceeded all projections, sir…" Kabuto said as he held up two cards "I've kept a careful record of their progress throughout the second exam. I figure you'll need this."

"And… how were they?" The one that Kabuto was talking to said.

"Heh heh… it almost sounds like you're a little bit worried… Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said as he looked at Orochimaru, the snake Sannin.

"No… I'm just curious to hear your opinion… as one of my Oto ninja spies." Orochimaru said as he looked at the cards.

"… Because, just like always, the decision is yours alone." Kabuto said.

"Heh… I do so enjoy your intelligence. Good work…" Orochimaru said as he shunshined away. **(Kurama no Kyubi: In case you're wondering, the two cards show Intel about Sasuke and Naruto. Why Naruto? Well, even though Orochimaru's no longer part of the Akatsuki, the regeneration of the world is still in his best interest, 'cause even if he becomes immortal and obtains all the world's jutsus, it won't mean a thing if the world is destroyed.)**

Forest of Death, tower, team 7

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked into a large room and they were surprised why there weren't anyone there to greet them.

"… There's no one here…" Naruto said.

"Hey! Look at that!" Sakura said as she pointed up to a wall scroll that was on the… wall.

"If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together, the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. This… something… is the secret way… that guides us on from this place today. Signed: Sandaime Hokage." Naruto read.

"I think it refers to the scrolls… I think maybe it's telling us to open both the heaven and earth scrolls, but…" Sakura said as Naruto held up the scrolls and gave the earth scroll to Sasuke.

"Well… what are we waiting for?" Naruto asked and they opened the scrolls, but were surprised to find the kanji for person inside before smoke suddenly came out of the scrolls, and instantly recognizing what was happening they threw the scrolls away just before there was a large puff of smoke.

"Y-you're…?" Sasuke said as he and the other two looked in surprise at the form of Umino Iruka.

"Hey, kids…! It's been a while, eh?" Iruka said.

"I don't understand!" Sakura yelled.

"Huh? Iruka-sensei… what are you doing, popping out of a summoning spell?" Naruto asked.

"The spell was designed so that Chunin could greet the applicants at the end of the second exam. It was just luck that I got to be the messenger for the three of you." Iruka said.

"Messenger…?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah… you barely made it!" Iruka said as he checked his watch before saying "Congratulations… you've all passed the second exam. This calls for a celebration! I wish I could take you out for ramen at Ichiraku…"

"No thanks!" Naruto cut him off and everyone looked at him as though he'd grown another head "I'm not all that hungry."

'_Naruto turning down ramen? I think the world's ending…'_ was the thoughts that went through Sasuke, Sakura and Iruka's heads.

"Oh, right! Iruka-sensei! What can you tell us about the wall scroll?" Sakura asked as she pointed up at said scroll before she continued "It looks like moths have been at it! And we couldn't figure out what it means!"

"Well, part of why I'm here is to make sure you understand the message of the scroll, so… read it again. It's the directive set down by the Sandaime Hokage for all Chunin level ninja." Iruka said.

""Directive"…?" Naruto asked.

"That's right! In the text, the word "Heaven" refers to the human mind… and "Earth" refers to the human body. "If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher." In other words… if Naruto's weakest area is his brain and academic knowledge… he's got to study hard and learn the principles that will help him on his missions." Iruka said and Sakura started laughing, but she stopped however when Iruka continued "And… "If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack." If Sakura's weak point is with her lack of strength and power… she needs to train hard and find the riches of physical stamina and skill. And once you access the qualities of both Heaven and Earth… no mission – however dangerous – will be a wrong path for you. You'll be walking a safe path, even in the midst of the most perilous mission… that's it!"

"Then… what about that blank space? What goes there…?" Sakura asked before Iruka picked up one of the scrolls and held it out in front of the three Genins.

"The word that goes there is a description of what a Chunin should be. The single character that belongs in the blank space is the one from the interior of the scrolls. It's "Jin", meaning one person or all people. The challenge of seeing who survived these past five days was part of the exam designed to test the applicants' basic Chunin abilities. You all passed with flying colors. Chunin are the unit commander class… responsible for leading their teams. They can only do so by a combination of intelligence and strength. I can't emphasize it enough. Learn it… live it. Believe it from the bottom of your heart! Keep the Chunin directive in your mind as you move on to the next exam. That's it… that's the entire message!" Iruka said.

"Yes, sir!" Naruto said as he gave a salute.

"… But… about the third exam… don't overdo things. Especially you, Naruto… I worry about you." Iruka said.

"The day I got the Konoha graduation Hitai-ate… I stopped being a student! No need to worry about me! It's proof of my maturity… and I got it from you, Iruka-sensei! My temper hasn't changed any, and maybe I'm impulsive and full of energy… but I'm not a kid! I'm… a full-fledged shinobi! You got that?" Naruto said.

(Naruto received the title: Full-Fledged Shinobi: … ) **(Kurama no Kyubi: I couldn't think of any description, but if you've got any ideas, then put them in your reviews and I'll write the description as soon as I can.)**

"… I see… my apologies, Naruto…" Iruka said.

Forest of Death, tower, arena

"Congratulations to you all… on passing the second exam!" Hiruzen said as he looked at the seven teams that were in front of him. Beside him stood the exam proctors and behind him were the Jonin senseis for the different teams.

'_Heh… we started with 78 applicants… it's amazing that 21 of them actually made it. I said I would pare their numbers down to less than half, but really I was only expecting a single digit figure…'_ Anko thought.

The seven teams that had passed were none other than team 7, team 8, team 10, team Guy, team Gaara, team Dosu and team Kabuto.

'_I'm famished!'_ Choji thought.

'_Still so many competitors… what a drag!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Sasuke-kun's team made it!" Ino whispered.

"Your students made an impressive showing! I wonder how much of it was dumb luck… not that it matters. My team is bound to knock them out in the next round. At the next level, it will be all about their abilities… or lack thereof. Ah, well… sometimes being young is all about learning to deal with heart-break, eh, Kakashi?" Guy said.

"Huh? I'm sorry… did you say something?" Kakashi asked as he looked at him.

'_Heh… good one… as annoying as ever, Kakashi… you always did try to get under my skin with your aloof act.'_ Guy thought.

'_Wow, so that's Guy-sensei's archrival… man, he beats Guy-sensei hands down in the looks department…'_ Tenten thought.

'_None of the other senseis are as cool as Guy-sensei. Not even close! He's the man! Just wait, Guy-sensei! I'll make you proud!'_ Lee thought.

'_So now only the real players are left. And Uchiha Sasuke made it, eh…?'_ Neji thought.

'_You'll pay for injuring my arms, Uchiha Sasuke…'_ Zaku thought as Dosu stared towards Orochimaru who was standing among the Jonin senseis in a disguise.

'_Amazing… there were 26 three-man teams at the start, and only seven teams finished.'_ Temari thought.

'_So you came through without a scratch after all, Gaara…'_ The Jonin sensei of the Suna-siblings, Baki thought.

'_Akamaru's acting strange…'_ The Jonin sensei of team 8, Yuhi Kurenai thought.

'_Those guys from Sunagakure…'_ Kiba thought as he glared towards them out of the corner of his eye.

'_Naruto-kun passed, too… I'm so glad! Yay!'_ Hinata thought.

'_What the…? All of the applicants from Konoha – that we know – are here!'_ Sakura thought.

'_So that team from Suna is here as well… Sabaku no Gaara, what's his story?'_ Naruto thought.

"Hmm… I got a bad feeling about this…" Sasuke said quietly as he put his hand over his curse mark which had just started acting up for the first time since the fight with the Oto-nins.

'_It's astonishing that so many of them survived… and even more astounding that the majority of the survivors were culled from the ranks of the most raw recruits!'_ Hiruzen thought before he started explaining the Chunin exams.** (Kurama no Kyubi: I'm not gonna bother with this explanation since it's 100% canon, if you want to read it, go read the Manga.)**

When Hiruzen was done explaining the exams, a Jonin proctor suddenly appeared, kneeling before him.

"… Forgive my interruption, Hokage-sama, but… if you don't mind handing the rest of the proceedings over to me, Gekko Hayate, proctor of the third exam." The Jonin, now identified as Hayate said.

"Go ahead." Hiruzen said and Hayate stood up before turning around.

"Good to meet you, everyone… I'm Hayate. Uhhh… before we start the exam… cough… I must ask you to do something for me… cough." Hayate said.

'_What the…?'_ Zaku thought.

'_This guy seems kind of sickly… I wonder if he's all right…'_ Ino thought.

"Ummm… you see… there are some preliminaries to the exam proper… and whether you proceed to the main exam is contingent on how well you manage those." Hayate said.

"Preliminaries?" Sakura asked.

"Preliminaries…? Like what?" Shikamaru yelled.

"Hayate-sensei… I don't understand what you mean by preliminaries. Why can't all of the remaining applicants just proceed directly to the next exam?" Sakura said.

"Well… I don't want to say that the first two exams weren't demanding enough… but the truth is… cough… we still have too many applicants. Under the traditional rules of the exam, we have to have a preliminary test… to reduce the number of applicants who'll proceed to the third exam." Hayate said.

"B-but…" Sakura started, but Hayate cut her off.

"As Hokage-sama mentioned, a number of honored guests will be observing you during the third exam… so we must make the exam intense, tight, and fast-moving. Hmmm… so anyway… now that you know something of what it's really all about… anyone who doesn't feel up to the challenge, either physically or mentally, can walk away. Just take one step forward… cough, cough, because the preliminaries start… right now!" Hayate said.

"NOW?" Kiba yelled.

"Well… I'm outta here." Kabuto said as he raised his hand.

"WHAT? K-Kabuto-san?" Naruto said.

"… Kabuto-san!" Sakura said.

"Ummm… cough, cough, aren't you… Yakushi Kabuto of Konoha? Okay, you can go." Hayate said as he looked at a dossier list he was holding before saying "Uhhh… in case I forgot to mention it, from here on in, you fight as individuals… cough, cough… not as members of teams. So you can make the decision that's right for you without worrying about anyone else. So… anyone else want out? Show of hands..?"

"… Well there's a familiar face, eh? If memory serves me, this is about the same point at which he dropped out last time… I wonder… what on earth could he be thinking? Yakushi Kabuto… according to his dossier… he's tried and failed six times now." Anko said as she looked at the dossier list.

"What sort of record has he got?" Hiruzen asked.

"Ordinary… unremarkable. In his academy days, he was an average student, earning mediocre grades… it took him three attempts to pass his finals and graduate. Since then, he's completed 2 C-ranked and 14 D-ranked missions. There's nothing noteworthy in the records of any of his battles… except…" Anko said.

"Except…?" Hiruzen asked.

"… Except for something that happened before he even entered the academy. Do you remember the tale… of a boy who was brought back from that battle at Kikyo Pass?" Anko said.

"I do… yes… if I remember correctly, the story was that a Jonin of the medical corps… took in an enemy youth who had survived on the battlefield. And he's that child…?" Hiruzen said.

'_You seem very dedicated. I wish I could tell you, "just leave everything to me"…'_ Kabuto thought as he looked towards Orochimaru before he looked towards Naruto and Sasuke '_… Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun… I would have liked to hang out with you a while longer… but if I keep going… my old blood might start bubbling up… fun's fun, but technically I'm a spy here… and now is hardly the time to blow my cover. Besides, this is perfect… if YOU'RE going to be a member of the audience… then I can hand off the intelligence-gathering work to you… Orochimaru-sama!'_

'_As my undercover agent, you've had to wear the mask of a false life since you were a mere child. The strain of always holding in your true self…'_ Orochimaru thought.

"… Has it become too much for you? Are you ready to snap? Is your roiling blood aching to flow free? Get a hold of yourself! Have you forgotten Orochimaru-sama's orders?" One of Kabuto's teammates asked quietly.

"You guys can take it from here. Especially you, Yoroi… with your abilities, this next bit should be a piece of cake! It's the perfect opportunity for a real show of sheer brute strength! Considering how you resent my recent promotion, I would have thought you'd jump at the chance." Kabuto said.

"Hm… you may think you're Orochimaru-sama's favorite… but don't push it, gaki." Yoroi said.

"I got it… loud and clear, coach!" Kabuto said before leaving as he thought '_I look forward with pleasure to day of our next meeting, Sasuke-kun… you too, Naruto-kun, or should I say "Chosen of Regeneration"?'_

'_I'll ensure there'll be nothing for you to take pleasure in later… sure as my name is Yoroi.'_ Yoroi thought.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Kabuto's retreating back until he suddenly felt a wave of pain coming from the curse mark on his neck.

'… _Ohh! Another wave of pain…'_ Sasuke thought as he brought his hand up to the mark.

'_Oh, Sasuke-kun… I was afraid of this…'_ Sakura thought.

"So, uhhh… cough, looks like no one else is bailing out." Hayate said.

"S-Sasuke-kun… maybe you should quit, too!" Sakura said and Naruto turned around to see that Sasuke was holding his neck in pain.

"Sakura-chan's right, Sasuke. That mark is dangerous, and there's no telling what could happen if you go and fight someone." Naruto said.

"Shut up…!" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun, I know… that you're just barely able to contain the pain!" Sakura said.

"I said…" Sasuke started, but he was cut off by Sakura.

"You leave me no choice. If you won't listen to reason… I'm going to tell all the senseis about that mark! And then…" Sakura said as she began to raise her hand, but Sasuke grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Keep your mouth shut! Not a word about the mark!" Sasuke said.

"Why do you always have to act so strong? I can't bear to watch you suffer, Sasuke!" Sakura said.

"It's my decision… and it's none of your business! This is my burden to bear… alone. Remember what I told you, Sakura…? I'm an avenger. This is more than just a test for me… and I don't care whether I achieve the level of Chunin or not. "Am I strong?" Finding that out is all that matters to me now. I'm here to test myself against the best of the best. And the best opponents I could find are all around us, here and now. Not even for your sake… will I turn away from the path that leads to my dream!" Sasuke said.

"Hey, teme! Why the heck are you trying to act so cool?" Naruto said.

"Naruto… you're one of the ones that I want to fight!" Sasuke said just before he felt another wave of pain.

"It's just as I'd feared…" Hiruzen said as he observed team 7.

"What can we do?" Ibiki asked.

"Pull him out of the exam… quarantine him under the guard of ANBU agents." Anko said.

"And you really think he'll just go quietly if you order that?" Anko then turned around to see Kakashi "Keep in mind… he's a member of the Uchiha clan."

"Don't talk nonsense! I'll stop him by force if I have to. Any attempts he makes to manipulate his own chakra… will provoke a reaction from that curse mark, forcibly drawing out and draining all his strength. It's the mark of a forbidden art, which debilitates the body of the practitioner! It's a miracle that a child like him is able to bear it at all. By all rights, it should have killed him already." Anko said before turning to the old Hokage "Hokage-sama!"

"I am still concerned about what Orochimaru said… let young Sasuke proceed as he is, and we shall keep our eyes on him." Hiruzen said.

"H-Hokage-sama…!" Anko said.

"However, if the curse mark begins to spread and cause his power to rampage, then we shall indeed take steps to restrain him." Hiruzen said.

"Yes, sir." Ibiki said.

"Ahhh… well then… we'll begin the preliminaries… which consist of individual combat matches, as though this were part of a tournament. As there are a total of 20 combatants remaining. We will hold a total of 10 bouts. Ummm… and the victors of those bouts will advance to the third exam. This is no-holds-barred combat. Each pair of combatants will fight until one of them is dead or unconscious… or admits defeat. Cough. As soon as you sense that your opponent is overpowering you, immediately concede your loss… if you value your life. Uhhh… since we don't want a total blood-bath on our hands, there may be cases… cough, where we ascertain that there is an undisputed winner and step in to end the match. But don't count on that. From here on out, the key to your fate is held in…" Hayate said.

"Open it." Anko spoke into a mic and a wooden board that was on the wall opened up to reveal an electronic score-board.

"Ummmm… this electronic score-board. At the start of every round, we will display the names of the two combatants competing in that match… cough, so, ummm… not to hurry you all to the slaughter… but let's begin. We'll now announce the first two names." Hayate said and everyone waited for the names to come up.** (Kurama no Kyubi: I will only go into detail in the matches that I think is important, which are Sasuke vs Yoroi, Naruto vs Kiba, Hinata vs Neji and Rock Lee vs Gaara.)**

**Uchiha Sasuke**

**Vs**

**Akado Yoroi**

'_Hmm… right off the bat, eh?'_ Sasuke thought.

'_Heh… I couldn't have planned it better!'_ Yoroi thought.

'_Oh, please no! Not Sasuke-kun!'_ Sakura thought.

"Will the individuals whose names are listed on the board come forward now…?" Hayate asked and Sasuke and Yoroi stepped forward and turned to face each other as Hayate continued "Akado Yoroi, Uchiha Sasuke… you two have been selected to compete in the first bout. Any objections?"

"None…" Yoroi said.

"I'm good…" Sasuke said.

'_The only thing I can do now… is just stand here and watch over him. Sasuke-kun…!'_ Sakura thought.

'_Sasuke! If you plan to fight me later… don't you dare lose now!'_ Naruto thought.

'_There's something wrong with Sasuke-kun…'_ Ino thought.

'… _It's the curse mark that's causing it!'_ Dosu thought.

'_Good luck, Sasuke!'_ Lee thought.

'_Show us what you're made of!'_ Neji thought.

'… _The pan's not getting any better…'_ Sasuke thought as the curse mark continued to cause him pain.

'_Heh… looks like the boy's in pain!'_ Yoroi thought.

"Uhhhhh… it's time for the first round to commence… all right? Cough. Everyone other than the two combatants should move up to the upper gallery now." Hayate said and everyone walked towards the stairs to the upper gallery.

"Sasuke… don't use the Sharingan." Kakashi said as he passed the Uchiha.

"… How did you know?" Sasuke asked.

"If the curse mark on your neck is allowed to run rampant… the consequences will change your life." Kakashi said.

"… I figured." Sasuke said.

"If they see any sign of that, the match will be suspended. And I'll be forced to stop you. Please don't forget that." Kakashi said before walking further.

'… _Suspended?'_ Sasuke thought before bringing his hand up to the mark '_The mark seems to respond to my chakra. If I use my chakra carelessly, the mark will take over my psyche, calling upon and expending all of the power I have… so… for the purposes of this match… not only is the Sharingan verboten… but I'll also have to be restrained in using my chakra even for the normal jutsus!'_

'_Heh heh… what a pity that Yoroi's talents… are the very worst you could face, Sasuke-kun!'_ Orochimaru thought.

'_Now… how should I do this?'_ Sasuke thought.

'_Sasuke… don't overextend yourself…'_ Kakashi thought.

"All right… please begin!" Hayate said and Yoroi made the tora hand sign.

"Shall I start?" He asked.

"Go for it." Sasuke said and Yoroi's right hand was covered in blue chakra he pulled three shuriken out of his weapons pouch and threw them towards the Uchiha.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai and used it to deflect the shuriken back towards Yoroi as he felt a renewed wave of pain in his neck and he tripped as Yoroi dodged the shuriken. Yoroi then appeared over the Uchiha and attempted to punch him, but Sasuke rolled out of the way and the Oto spy hit the floor instead.

Sasuke then stuck his kunai into the floor and used his feet to push Yoroi's arm so that he fell down on the floor, but he then grabbed Sasuke's t-shirt, just below the collar.

'_My strength… it's fading?'_ Sasuke thought as he tried to push Yoroi's hand back.

Yoroi then brought his arm up and brought his elbow hard down on Sasuke's stomach before punching the Uchiha away.

'_Wh-why…? Where did all my strength go?'_ Sasuke thought as Yoroi leaped forward and grabbed his forehead.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke tried to push back Yoroi's arm, but he felt his strength suddenly leave him and his arms fell lump on the floor.

'_This is…!'_ Naruto thought before yelling "Sasuke! He's absorbing your chakra! Get him away from you!"

'_Exactly! Yoroi's unholy gift is the ability to absorb another's chakra! It's a brilliant art whereby simply pressing the palm of his hand against an opponent's body gives him the ability to consume their mental and physical energies. And once all your chakra has been devoured, Sasuke-kun… you will have no recourse but to call upon the power of my curse mark! That's it… open yourself up… to all that delicious power! If you try to resist this path, you will surely die!'_ Orochimaru thought.

"Ohh… you…" Sasuke said before he kicked Yoroi away "… son of a…"

"Heh heh… imagine a little vermin like you… having any strength left to oppose me." Yoroi said as Sasuke got up on his feet.

'_That was… too close… if he makes contact with me again, I won't even have enough energy to move… it's what he's after… to keep me within his reach… this is my last chance… but how do I…?'_ Sasuke thought before he remembered something that Naruto had said.

Flashback

"Before our battle, Cress-san taught me the techniques, Demon Fang and Tiger Blade. And he also told me about something called Over-Limit." Naruto said.

"Over-Limit?" Sakura asked.

"Hai! When in Over-Limit, one's senses are several times stronger than they would normally be. And the best thing is that you don't even need to use chakra to perform techniques!" Naruto said. **(Kurama no Kyubi: I don't remember whether it was like that in the games or not, but in this story they don't need to use any chakra while in Over-Limit.)**

"We don't need to use chakra?" Sasuke asked.

"Nope, he taught me how to enter Over-Limit too." Naruto said.

"Could you teach us?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure, but it won't be easy. Even after knowing how to do it, it still took a month before I were able to do it!" Naruto said.

Flashback end

'_That's it!'_ Sasuke thought before he closed his eyes to concentrate.

"Uchiha Sasuke… _this_ is all he can do?" Gaara asked.

'_Sasuke…!'_ Lee thought.

"Heh… you couldn't have picked a worse time to let your mind wander!" Yoroi yelled as he ran towards the Uchiha while thinking '_Now I'll absorb all of his chakra! This is it!'_

'_I guess this is the end…'_ Hayate thought.

As Yoroi closed in on Sasuke, the Uchiha suddenly opened his eyes and everyone was surprised when they saw that Yoroi was sent flying backwards by a shockwave as Sasuke got enshrouded in a colorful aura.

'_Incredible, this power, it's even greater then when I used the curse mark.'_ Sasuke thought as he looked down on his hands.

'_That aura… Over-Limit? But it took me a whole month before I could use it!'_ Naruto thought.

'_Strange, I'm not able to feel Sasuke-kun's chakra anymore.'_ Ino thought.

'_How did he…? I didn't see any punches or any kick… at least I don't think I did.'_ Yoroi thought before Sasuke suddenly vanished "What?"

Yoroi was then suddenly punched from behind and he was sent flying to the opposite end of the room before he managed to land on his feet.

"As you can see, I'm a lot more powerful now than I was before, you don't stand a chance." Sasuke said as Neji activated his Byakugan.

'_Impossible, I can't see his Keirakukei? In fact I can't see anything past his skin!'_ Neji thought.

"What's happening? Where'd he get that power from?" Anko asked.

"Could it be some new form of curse mark?" Ibiki asked.

"No, it's not!" Hiruzen said before thinking '_I've seen this before, but I only thought the Shodai, Nidaime, Yondaime and Madara were able to do it.'_

"Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu." Sasuke fired a fireball at Yoroi and everyone except for Naruto, Hiruzen, Kakashi and Orochimaru were surprised at the fact that he didn't weave any hand signs, not even the Tora sign.

'_What? The curse mark should have started covering his entire body now, what's going on?'_ Yoroi thought as he dodged the fire ball.

'_Hmmm… I wonder if I can…'_ Sasuke thought before a red glyph appeared on the floor beneath him "Fire Ball."

Three balls of fire then flew forth towards Yoroi, he managed to dodge the first one, but he ended up directly in the path of the second. As he was hit by the fire ball, the other two suddenly flew towards him as though they were heat-seeking missiles. The Oto spy then fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Uchiha Sasuke is the champion of the first battle… and advances past the preliminaries to the next level!" Hayate said as the aura around Sasuke vanished.

'_So, it's got a five-minute time limit, huh?'_ The Uchiha thought just as Kakashi appeared next to him.

"Hey! Well done!" He said before thinking '_That technique he used was similar to Minato-sensei's Over-Limit. How did Sasuke learn it? And what was with those fire balls at the end?'_

"Way to go, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled before thinking '_I'm surprised he was able to not only enter Over-Limit, but also use Fire Ball… hmmm, I have to admit that the members of the Uchiha clan is quite amazing.'_

'_Sasuke-kun… I'm so glad…'_ Sakura thought.

'_There's last year's top rookie, Hyuga Neji… and it looks like this year's will be Uchiha Sasuke… if they fought each other, who would win?'_ Tenten thought.

'_Not this again…'_ Kankuro thought as he noticed the way Gaara was looking at Sasuke.

"Ooooooh! Sasuke-kun! you're the best!" Ino said.

"I'm starving! My stomach could not be more empty!" Choji said.

'… _That's it. We're done for!'_ Shikamaru thought.

"W-wow…" Hinata said.

"Come on! It wasn't that great!" Kiba said.

'_Brilliant…'_ Orochimaru thought as he licked his lips.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" A member of Konoha's medical corps said as two others carried Yoroi away "… We must escort you, too, and put you under the care of the medical corps… so you can get the best possible treatment."

"You have no idea what you'd be getting yourselves into. I'll handle him." Kakashi said before he leaned down to Sasuke's ear "He can come with me right now, and… I'll seal away the curse mark."

"Well then… right! Let's get the next match going." Hayate said.

"Can't this wait? I want to watch everyone else compete." Sasuke said.

"No! Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment! This thing is spreading like a disease, and it's already close to the point of no return. I let you have your own way once, and it's only made you greedy." Kakashi said before he and Sasuke started walking away as everyone else were waiting for the next two names to come up.

**Zaku Abumi**

**Vs**

**Aburame Shino**

"Who's that loser?" Zaku said as he looked at the names.

'_Sasuke-kun…'_ Sakura thought as she looked down towards her crush.

"Uhhh… all right, everyone. It's time… for the second match of the prelims to begin!" Hayate said as Zaku and Shino had come down from the upper gallery.

'_It's that Oto ninja… the one who fought Sasuke-kun and ended up with two broken arms. How can he hope to fight?'_ Sakura thought.

"I hope Shino-kun's up to this…" Hinata said.

"He's pretty tough. Out of all the people here, he's the only one I wouldn't want to go up against…" Kiba said.** (Kurama no Kyubi: What about Gaara, Kiba?)**

"Okay… you may begin." Hayate said.

'_So… Zaku… how do you expect to fight him? I can't wait to see…'_ Dosu thought before he noticed that Orochimaru shunshined away.

Forest of Death, tower, Kakashi and Sasuke

Sasuke was sitting shirt-less on the floor as Kakashi wrote seals that went from Sasuke's curse mark and out in 10 different directions.

"That's it!" Kakashi said as he finished writing the seals and he stood behind the Uchiha as he weaved a series of hand signs "Just a little longer and it'll be all done."

"Fuja hoin." Kakashi said as he slammed his hand down on the curse mark and all of the seals suddenly moved up the Uchiha's body before forming a small ring around the mark.

"Even if the curse mark awakens again… the power of this Fuja Hoin seal should contain it. Sasuke… the foundation of the seal's power is the strength of your own will. You have to want it to work… and you must believe in your own power to control it, if you don't… the curse could have its way again!" Kakashi said before Sasuke fell unconscious "You're so worn out, I barely recognize you."

"So… you've mastered the art of sealing, Kakashi-kun?" A voice from behind him said and he slowly turned around "… Looks like you're all grown up."

"… You're…" Kakashi said as he came face-to-face with none other than Orochimaru.

"It's been a long time…" Orochimaru said.

"Orochimaru…" Kakashi said.

"… Pardon my rudeness, Kakashi-kun, but… I have no use for you. I'm here about the boy behind you." Orochimaru said.

"What do you want with Sasuke…?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, you know how it is… two guys have something… and a third one's just got to get it, too! You haven't had it for very long yourself, you know. Know what it is yet?" Orochimaru said and Kakashi realized what it was he was after "… It's… the Sharingan! I must possess… Uchiha blood!"

"What for…?" Kakashi asked.

"… The newly created village of Otogakure…. That is my home, you see… is it becoming clear?" Orochimaru said.

"So it's just your greed… and delusions of grandeur." Kakashi said.

"I suppose you could say that… good help is so hard to find these days… and I need all sorts of pawns at my disposal." Orochimaru said.

"So, you think that Sasuke… is one of your pawns?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, he's a very special pawn… a real keeper… unlike the boys who are going through the rigors of the exam process right now. Those boys… are disposable." Orochimaru said and Kakashi weaved a couple of hand signs before holding his right arm down and putting his left hand on the underside of his elbow.

"Stay away from Sasuke. Even if you are one of _those_ three ninja… the man I am today can take you down!" Kakashi said as lightning appeared in his right hand and the sound of a thousand birds filled the room. But then, Orochimaru started laughing and Kakashi asked "What's so funny?"

"You say one thing… and do another." Orochimaru said.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"The curse-binding seal you placed upon Sasuke-kun was futile! When a heart is sufficiently focused and ruthless in its desires… then, for good or evil, the end will justify any means. Sasuke-kun possesses just such a heart… the heart of an avenger." Orochimaru said.

"So that's how you got your hooks into him… but Sasuke's not…" Kakashi said as he deactivated the Raikiri, but Orochimaru cut him off as he started to walk away.

"A day will come when he will seek me out… hungry for power! Meanwhile… I believe you were offering to kill me. Care to try? Or are you all talk?" He said before he suddenly sent a wave of killing intent at the Jonin while continuing to walk away.

'_Did I miscalculate? What kind of fool am I?'_ Kakashi thought.

Forest of Death, tower, arena

Zaku was lying on the floor, unconscious with both of his arms blown off at the elbows.

"He's… finished." Hayate said before a couple of medical ninja came and carried him away "The winner is Aburame Shino!"

'_Ugh… that guy freaks me out.'_ Kurenai thought before Shino came over to them.

"So, uh… Shino-kun… nice job." Hinata said.

"That was awesome!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Yep. So… don't let the team down." Shino said.

"Hey!" Kiba yelled before thinking '_Suddenly, he's acting like he's the boss of us!'_

"So… uhhh… we're moving on to the next match. Cough." Hayate said.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed when he saw Kakashi appearing there via Shunshine no jutsu.

"Yo!" Kakashi said.

"What do you mean, "Yo"? Kakashi-sensei, tell us about Sasuke-kun! is he all right?" Sakura yelled.

"He's fine… sound asleep in the infirmary even as we speak." Kakashi said before thinking _'under the guard of a ANBU team… but asleep.'_

Sakura let out a sigh of relief just as Naruto noticed that the next two names had come up on the score-board.

**Tsurugi Misumi**

**Vs**

**Kankuro**

'_My turn… at last!'_ Kankuro thought before he walked down.

'_Kankuro… isn't taking this seriously at all.'_ Baki thought.

'_Fool!'_ Gaara thought.

'_Him again!'_ Naruto thought as he recognized the older boy.

"All right… then… you may begin." Hayate said as the two competitors had gotten down.

"Even though you're just a little brat… I'm not letting down my guard like Yoroi did. In fact, let me make one thing perfectly clear… you'd be better off forfeiting the match before you get hurt. This won't take long at all." Misumi said.

"I agree… I'll be finished with you in no time." Kankuro said as he put down the bandaged object that he previously had on his back.

The battle didn't last very long as Misumi wrapped himself around Kankuro and squeezed until the Suna-nin's neck snapped. But it appeared to only be a puppet that had been temporarily altered to look like Kankuro while the real Kankuro was hiding in the bandages and he made the puppet squeeze Misumi instead.

"Due to Misumi's inability to fight back… the winner of the match is Kankuro!" Hayate said.

"Two of them against one guy… isn't that against the rules? Isn't it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Not in this case, Naruto. The "other guy" is just some kind of golem…" Kakashi said.

"Kugutsu no jutsu! He manipulates a lifeless doll by projecting the power of his chakra! the golem is a weapon, just like shuriken." Sakura explained.

"In any event… it's time for the fourth match." Hayate said.

"Whoa! Whoa! This is like a never-ending freak show!" Naruto said.

"Look who's talking." Kakashi said.

"Good one, sensei!" Sakura said as she giggled.

"I don't think you'll be laughing in a minute, Sakura… look." Kakashi said as he pointed up to the score-board and Sakura's eyes widened.

**Haruno Sakura**

**Vs**

**Yamanaka Ino**

Shortly afterwards were the two kunoichi standing in front of each other in the middle of the room.

"So, Sakura… it's you and me… going head-to-head. I never saw it coming." Ino said before Sakura took of her Hitai-ate.

"Wh-what the…?" Naruto said.

'_Yeah, Ino… what's your plan?'_ Asuma thought.

"Understand this… I'm never letting you anywhere near Sasuke-kun." Sakura said.

"WHAT…?" Ino yelled.

"You're not even his type! And I'm not the weak, needy little girl I used to be. You're not even on my radar now." Sakura said.

"Sakura… I think you've forgotten who you're talking to. Don't cop an attitude with me, you little crybaby." Ino said.

"Aw, man! Sakura just crossed the line. That Ino chick scares me silly!" Naruto said.

"Hmm… Sakura's not trying to throw her weight around… and she's not the kind who'd bully someone just to be cruel. She's just making sure Ino is too riled up to think of going easy on her… for old time's sake." Kakashi said.

"What are they getting so intense about?" Naruto asked and Kakashi sighed.

'_He just can't see that he's exactly the same way when it comes to Sasuke.'_ Kakashi thought before saying "Well, Naruto… rivalry is a tricky business… not that I would know." Earning him a glare from Guy.

'_I get it… Sakura. Let's do this fair and square!'_ Ino thought as she took of her Hitai-ate and both her and Sakura wrapped them around their foreheads.

Unlike the last fight, this one lasted much longer. Sakura and Ino seemed to be equal throughout the match until Ino – seemingly out of madness – used a kunai to cut her hair and threw it over the floor before sending chakra through it to paralyze Sakura as she did the Shintenshin. The battle seemed lost for Sakura, but thanks to Naruto, Sakura's will – or more specifically, inner Sakura – managed to force Ino to release the technique and she returned to her own body.

(Sakura received the title: Strong Will: One whose will-power is so strong that even the Yamanaka's mind techniques can be broken.)

Sakura and Ino were now at their limits and they charged at eachother with all the strength they had left. The battle ended however with both being knocked-out.

"Neither candidate is able to continue. As a result of simultaneous knock-outs… neither combatant in the fourth battle moves past the preliminary round!" Hayate said before Kakashi and Asuma shunshined down to pick up their respective students.

"It's okay…" Asuma said as he picked up Ino.

"I've got you…" Kakashi said as he picked up Sakura and they both shunshined back to the upper gallery where they put them down next to each other.

"Hey… Ino!" Shikamaru yelled as he and Choji came running.

"Are you all right, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Neither one is hurt badly enough to need treatment from the medical corps… they should both regain consciousness within the next half hour. But… I'm impressed by both of them." Asuma said.

"Yeah… Naruto and Sasuke were both doing well… and now even fragile little Sakura… has shown amazing growth. I know you've all been through a lot, but… I'm glad I enrolled you all in the Chunin exam. I mean that from the bottom of my heart!" Kakashi said as the next two names came up.

**Tenten**

**Vs**

**Temari**

"The fifth match of the preliminaries… Tenten against Temari. Please step forward." Hayate said as Tenten and Temari walked down the stairs and to the center of the room.

"Hey, look… another candidate from Suna! This should be fun!" Neji said.

"Yeah, Tenten! Go!" Lee yelled.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

As the battle began, Ino eventually woke up and Sakura, shortly after her again.

"So you finally came to, eh, Sakura?" Ino asked.

"Tenten, use the power of youth!" Lee yelled.

"That's the spirit! Keep cheering her on!" Guy yelled.

"Our match is over and done…" Ino said.

"I… lost…?" Sakura asked as she looked down in defeat.

"Hm… I'm the one who should cry! It's such a disgrace… a tie! You fought me to a stand-still!" Ino said before holding up Sakura's Hitai-ate "Here! By the way, you've blossomed… into a lovely flower."

"… Ino…" Sakura said before she put on her Hitai-ate.

"But, just so you know… the next time we face each other, you don't get to take the easy way out by fainting! And by the way… no matter what you say, I'm not going to just hand over Sasuke-kun to you!" Ino said.

"Oh, really? well… same here, Ino-buta! Right back at you!" Sakura said.

"She shut down Tenten's weapons attack like it was nothing!" Neji said.

"Impossible!" Lee said.

On the floor were Temari standing amongst many different types of weapons that were lying, spread out over the floor. And lying on top of Temari's folded fan was the unconscious form of Tenten.

"How dull… it's a shame really…" Temari said.

"Wha…? What's her story?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

"Well, we weren't about to let ourselves be defeated in a place like this, now were we?" Kankuro said.

'_The warriors from Suna… are truly fearsome!'_ Hiruzen thought.

"The winner of the fifth round match… is Temari!" Hayate said before Temari suddenly threw Tenten, but Lee managed to catch her.

"Nice catch!" Temari commented.

"What's wrong with you? That's not how you treat a worthy opponent… especially not one you've just defeated!" Lee yelled as he put Tenten down.

"Oh, shut up! Get yourself and that loser out of my way." Temari said, making Lee angry.

"No, Lee…!" Neji yelled but his teammate didn't listen.

"Konoha Senpou!" Lee said as he moved in for a roundhouse kick, but Temari blocked it with her fan "What the…?"

"Hah! Just as I thought… you're not so fast, after all!" Temari said.

"What…?" Lee said.

"That's enough, Lee!" Guy said as he shunshined down.

"Guy-sensei…!" Lee said.

"Temari… get back up here! You've already been declared the winner… how long do you intend to trifle with that homely little prince charming?" Gaara said.

"What…?" Lee said as he looked Gaara in the eyes.

"Had enough now, Lee?" Guy said before looking up at the Suna-nins "… My dear friends from Suna… if you don't mind, I'd like to offer a word of advice… be prepared. You have no idea… how strong this boy really is."

"He actually picked a fight those freaks from Suna… in his place, I'd have run for cover!" Kiba said.

"Th-they really creep me out!" Hinata said.

"Don't you lose to them, Naruto!" Sakura said.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto said.

"… Thanks, Naruto… for helping me out before! Ino almost had me… until I heard your obnoxious voice, trumpeting that ridiculous battle cry." Sakura said.

"Ah, it was nothing!" Naruto said before looking up at the score-board "Okay! My turn! I'm good to go. Who thinks he can take me?"

"Who's next? I have a feeling it's me!" Lee said as he appeared next to Naruto.

**Nara Shikamaru**

**Vs**

**Kin Tsuchi**

"Aw, man!" Lee said.

"Rats!" Naruto said.

"Me, eh?" Shikamaru said.

"He manipulates shadows… be wary of them." Dosu said as Kin stared walking towards the stairs.

"Heh… it'll take a lot more than a stupid technique like that to beat me!" Kin said.

"This is such a drag. And how embarrassing… being expected to fight a girl…" Shikamaru said as they stood in the center of the room.

"If that's the way you feel, I'll put you out of your misery quickly!" Kin said.

"Shikamaru, don't you dare lose!" Ino yelled.

'_Well… Ino's suddenly full of energy!'_ Choji thought.

'_Even though I learned about the strengths of the Oto ninja when we battled during the second exam… I don't have a clue about what this one's specialty is. On the other hand, she's had a good opportunity to observe me in action. But I wonder…'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Begin! Cough." Hayate said and the battle commenced.

This battle didn't last very long, Kin through some senbon with bells attached to them and said senbons went into the wall behind Shikamaru. There were also threads attached to the bells and Shikamaru trailed his shadow under those threads so Kin wouldn't see him coming. When she was trapped by the Kagemane, Shikamaru threw a shuriken towards Kin, forcing her to do the same and just before the shuriken could hit both of them leaned back and avoided the deadly throwing-stars, but Kin was too close to the wall and her head slammed into it so hard that she get knocked-out.

"A Shinobi uses everything to his advantage… including the terrain… and the architecture as well. you were locked into the same movements as I… but only one of us was close enough to the wall to give herself a concussion! The shuriken were just a distraction… so you wouldn't notice where you were standing." Shikamaru said.

"The winner is Nara Shikamaru!" Hayate said.

"Nice one, Shikamaru!" Ino yelled.

"Awesome!" Choji yelled.

"And the guy acts totally humble… man, that was cool!" Naruto said.

'_Hm… and now it's just down to me.'_ Dosu thought.

'_The only ones who haven't competed yet are me, Hinata, Naruto, one of the Oto ninja… Choji, Neji and Lee… and that guy from Suna… please don't let it be the sand guy…!'_ Kiba thought.

'_This year's rookies seem to be showing some promise, but…'_ Neji thought as he stared towards Hinata.

"Next up will be…" Hayate said just before the names came up.

**Uzumaki Naruto**

**Vs**

**Inuzuka Kiba**

"Well, it's about time! Thanks for being patient, everyone! I'm gonna make this worth your wait!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh, yes! Thank you! Thank you! We can take this guy, Akamaru!" Kiba yelled and Akamaru let out a bark.

"If I'm not next… then it signifies that Sakura will hate me for having massive eyebrows. But if I am next…" Lee muttered as he slumped.

"The seventh round battle! Uzumaki Naruto versus Inuzuka Kiba!" Hayate said when Naruto and Kiba had gotten down.

"Woo-hoo! We lucked out, Akamaru! This fight is as good as won!" Kiba yelled and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Don't be so cocky, you jerk!" Naruto yelled before pointing at Akamaru "Hey, Kiba! Send your little puppy dog home! C'mon… he'll get in our way!"

"Whatever! Akamaru fights with me, like always." Kiba said as he put the mutt down on the floor as said mutt barked.

"Naruto! Don't you dare let that loser beat you!" Sakura yelled.

'… _At last, here goes…'_ Kakashi thought.

'_Naruto, huh? Tough break, Kakashi. There's no way your boy can beat Kiba!'_ Kurenai thought.

'_I-I wish I could cheer for Naruto-kun… but Kiba-kun is my teammate, and I don't want to upset him! But…'_ Hinata thought.

"Don't worry, I'll be kind… I'll finish you off fast instead of dragging it out." Kiba said.

"Oh, yeah…? Well… right back atcha!" Naruto said.

"You're not fooling anyone with that cool act." Kiba said and Akamaru barked.

"Well then… BEGIN!" Hayate said.

"Ninpou: Shikyaku no jutsu." Kiba said before he got a slightly more feral appearance as he got down on all four "Here I come…"

Kiba then charged at Naruto faster than most of the Genin in the room could see, but just before he could hit the blond, said blond suddenly vanished and almost everyone's eyes widened when Kiba was sent flying by a punch from Naruto.

"A little piece of advice, Kiba. Don't… underestimate me!" Naruto said as Kiba skidded to a halt.

"GO! NARUTO!" Sakura yelled.

"YEAH!" Lee yelled.

'_Oh, Naruto-kun!'_ Hinata thought.

'_Ho ho… what an interesting development.'_ Hiruzen thought.

"I guess you've gotten stronger, eh…? So this time, I'm not holding back" Kiba said.

"Oh, yeah? Then… right back atcha!" Naruto said.

"Oh, N-Naruto-kun th…!" Hinata started, but she was cut off by Sakura.

"That was awesome, Naruto!" She yelled.

'_But… I thought that this Naruto kid was a total dobe!'_ Kurenai thought.

'… _What kind of method did Kakashi use to teach him…?'_ Asuma wondered.

'_It was Naruto's ring, he must've used it to slow down time! That's why it looked like he just disappeared, because from our point-of-view he would be moving at super-human speeds, he might even have delivered multiple punches to Kiba instead of just one!'_ Shikamaru thought.

'_However… I think my boy Kiba and Akamaru may have matured more than Naruto has!'_ Kurenai thought.

"I mean it, Naruto. No holds barred… no mercy!" Kiba said before he crouched down while forming a hand sign and Akamaru jumped up on his back "Jujin Bunshin."

Suddenly, Akamaru was turned into a clone of Kiba. The two "Kibas" then leaped towards Naruto, but said blond jumped up into the air to dodge it.

'_There's my chance…!'_ Kiba thought before he and Akamaru started spinning "Gatsuuga."

Kiba and Akamaru then looked like two grey drills as they sped towards Naruto, who had no chance of dodging in mid-air… or so they thought.

'_This isn't good, I can easily dodge it, but I can't risk anyone seeing my wings. But then again, I could just summon the wings for a split-second just to get out of the way, I don't think anyone should be able to see any more than a flash of light.'_ Naruto thought before his wings appeared on his back and he quickly flapped them to get out of the way before they vanished again.

Almost everyone's eyes widened at this as they hadn't expected him – or anyone else for that matter – to be able to dodge an attack while in mid-air. None of them got a good look at the wings though, all anyone saw was a flash of light that seemed to come out of the blond's back.

'_That was Naruto's wings, why would he risk showing them here?'_ Sakura thought before looking around '_Well, it doesn't seem like anyone got a very good look at them, at least. But still, that was a dangerous risk.'_

"Did you guys see what just happened?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, it looked to me as though Naruto dodged Kiba's attack while in mid-air." Choji said.

"He did, and I think that flash of light we saw might have something to do with how he did it." Shikamaru said.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that kid is somehow able to fly." Temari said.

"Fly? Since when could humans…?" Kankuro asked, but he got cut off by Gaara.

"Actually, Kankuro! I think she's on the right track, and I believe that light which came from his back had something to do with it." he said.

Naruto then landed on the floor and skidded backwards while Kiba and Akamaru landed on the floor on opposite side of the room before skidding backwards themselves.

"Hey, how were you able to dodge that? You were in mid-air!" Kiba yelled.

"So?" Naruto asked as he shrugged, acting like it was no big deal.

"All right, that's it! Akamaru, let's do it again and see if he'll dodge it, this time!" Kiba yelled before he and his mutt got down on all four and prepared to charge again.

"I'd suggest you'd surrender now, before I use any of my techniques." Naruto said.

"WHAT?" Kiba yelled.

"Well, if you don't want to surrender, let me just give you a small piece of warning before you try to attack me again. Remember that trick Sasuke did in his match, where he was covered by that colorful aura?" Naruto said.

"Yeah, what about it? Oh, don't tell me, you can do it too?" Kiba said before he started laughing.

"Well, actually… I do!" Naruto said.

"Yeah, right. I'm not stupid enough to fall for that. C'mon, Akamaru! Gatsuuga." Kiba said before he and Akamaru shot straight towards Naruto.

"Ya know, I wasn't bluffing!" Naruto said as Kiba and Akamaru approached him just before a shockwave came out of his body and knocked back both Kiba and Akamaru.

As the two members of team 8 landed, they looked towards Naruto and were surprised to see the colorful aura around him.

"It's called Over-Limit! It increases strength, speed, reaction time, reflexes, just about everything! But the best thing about Over-Limit is that you don't need chakra or hand signs to perform jutsus. Let me demonstrate: Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Naruto said Naruto said and four clones of him appeared beside him.

'_Could that be why the Uchiha's curse mark didn't react when he used the Goukakyo?'_ Anko wondered.

"Of course, there's also a five-minute time-limit. But five minutes is more than enough to finish you off." Naruto said before he and his clones charged at their opponents.

"Kamiton: Kami-shuriken no jutsu." One of the clones said as four shuriken appeared in-between his fingers and he threw them towards the two "Kibas", but the two of them jumped in opposite directions to avoid the shuriken.

'_What the…? They're only made of paper! Does Naruto really think that that's enough to…'_ Kiba thought when he noticed that the shuriken was only made out of paper, but he was cut off when each of the paper shuriken went straight through the hard floor.

Akamaru was barely touched by one of the shuriken and he transformed back as he fell down on the floor and Kiba then noticed that three of the Naruto clones came up under him.

"U…" One of them said as he kicked Kiba into the air "… zu…" Another one said as he kicked the Inuzuka further up "… ma…" The third said as he, too kicked Kiba "… ki…" The fourth clone said as the original Naruto used him as a spring-board to get above the Inuzuka.

"… Naruto rendan." The original Naruto said as he kicked Kiba in the back and sent him crashing down. After Kiba had crashed into the floor, the aura around Naruto vanished and Hayate went to check Kiba's condition.

"And the winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" He said.

"YEAH!" Lee yelled.

"Oh, yeah! That feels good!" Sakura yelled.

"Incredible! Naruto beat Kiba!" Shikamaru yelled.

'… _Yes!'_ Hinata thought.

"Heh, that was easier than I thought it'd be." Naruto said as he walked up the stairs.

'… _Sh-should I…? Shouldn't I...?'_ Hinata thought as Naruto walked passed her.

"… N-Naruto-kun…" Naruto turned around and Hinata held up an ointment.

'… _Hinata…!'_ Kurenai thought.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto asked.

"… An ointment." Kurenai said.

"An Ointment? You should give that to your teammate instead. Besides, I heal fast." Naruto said as he gave his trademark fox-grin.

"Just take it from her, Naruto!" Kurenai said.

"Uh… okay! Thanks." Naruto said as he took the ointment before walking back to were team 7 and team Guy were standing.

'_Don't feel ashamed, Kiba. It turns out you fought a worthy opponent after all!'_ Kurenai thought.

'_Well, aren't you looking carefree… Hinata-sama?'_ Neji thought as he glared towards Hinata from the corner of his eye.

Hinata then walked down the stairs and towards some medics who were carrying Kiba and Akamaru away.

"Uh… um… th-this is a healing salve… for Kiba-kun… and Akamaru…" Hinata said as she held out another ointment.

"Nice of you to worry about everyone else… but save some of that concern for yourself! There are only six of you left… you, Choji, Neji, Lee, one of the Oto ninja… and that guy from Suna. Listen, Hinata... if they pair you off against that Suna ninja… withdraw immediately! And not just him! The same goes for Neji. If you have to face him, don't fight. Forfeit. He's so cruel to you… you'd be torn to pieces…" Kiba said.

"Well then… the next match will be… cough." Hayate said just before the next two names showed on the score-board and Hinata's eyes widened.

**Hyuga Hinata**

**Vs**

**Hyuga Neji**

'_Hinata…'_ Kurenai thought.

'_These contests get more and more intriguing…'_ Hiruzen thought, and shortly after were Hinata and Neji standing in front of each other in the middle of the room.

"I never dreamed we'd find ourselves fighting each other… Hinata-sama." Neji said.

"… Neji… onii-san…" Hinata stuttered.

"Huh? She's his sister?" Naruto asked.

"… Both are members of Konoha's oldest and most illustrious family, through whose veins flows the most elite and accomplished blood… the Hyuga clan. But they're not brother and sister…" Kakashi explained.

"Then… how are they related?" Sakura asked.

"Well… it's complicated… I guess you could say they're related in the same way… that a tree branch is related to the trunk." Kakashi said.

"Branch and trunk…?" Naruto asked.

"Hai! Hinata is a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan… and Neji is a member of the cadet branch that supports it." Lee explained.

"… So it's family fighting family? That'll be hard on both of them." Sakura said.

"Yes… except…" Lee said.

"What…?" Sakura asked.

"There's been strain between the central and cadet branches of clan Hyuga for some time… relations aren't exactly friendly." Lee said.

"Hmm… why's that?" Naruto asked.

"… I don't know all the details, but… it sounds like a pretty common tale among older families. The first generation of the Hyuga clan… made all sorts of rules and degrees that favored the main branch of the family… in order to preserve the family line and retain the purity of their blood. It's said that members of the cadet branch still burn with anger and humiliation." Lee explained.

"So it's one of those fateful showdown things, then…" Sakura said.

"Well… please begin the match! Cough." Hayate said.

"Before we begin… there's something I have to point out to Hinata-sama." Neji said, catching the blunette's attention "You're not cut out to be a shinobi. Withdraw from the match! You're all sweetness and light… a peacemaker, not a troublemaker. You're easily led, not a leader. And you have no self-confidence. You've got a world-class inferiority complex… so I know you'd have been more comfortable and content staying at the Genin level. But applicants for the Chunin exams must compete as a trio… and you couldn't bear to let your teammates down. The truth is, your participation has been reluctant from the start… hasn't it?"

"… N-no… you're wrong. I-I really… wanted to change that about myself. So, of my own volition, I…" Hinata said.

"Hinata-sama… you're the sheltered little baby of the main branch, aren't you?" Neji asked.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"A leopard doesn't change its spots. A failure always fails. And a weak personality won't become strong." Neji said.

'_That jerk…!'_ Naruto thought.

"It's precisely because of the unchanging nature of humankind that differences between people are born… it's why we've coined terms like "elite" and "failure". It doesn't matter who you are. We're all judged on the basis of our looks, our intelligence, our talent, or our personalities… just as we judge others in their turn. Yes, it's a form of discrimination. And the factors that it's based on don't change. We have no choice… we must live within the boundaries set for us by the judgments of others. It's as unchangeable as the fact that I'm of the cadet branch of the family… and you're a member of the main branch. I've seen through many things with this Byakugan… and so I know… this courage you're displaying is just a bluff! In the truest, deepest part of your heart, you're desperate to run away from here right now." Neji said.

"N-no… I really want to…" Hinata said.

"The Byakugan…?" Sakura asked as she looked at Kakashi.

"They say that our Sasuke's own Uchiha clan can trace its origins back to the Hyuga clan. The "Byakugan" that he mentioned is one of the Kekkei Genkai passed down in the Hyuga family… a Dojutsu in some ways similar to the Sharingan… but in its penetrating perceptive ability… the Byakugan surpasses the Sharingan completely." Kakashi explained.

Neji then activated his eyes and Hinata – in an attempt to escape Neji's stare – averted her eyes towards the upper left before glancing to the lower right as she held her hands in front of her.

"My eyes can't be deceived. Just now, to escape my stare… you averted your own eyes… glancing towards the upper left. It signaled your recall of a past experience… one that brought you pain. When you subsequently glanced to the lower right, it indicated that you were envisioning physical and mental agony. In other words… you recalled your own previous experiences, and based upon those memories… you imagined the outcome of this match. You foresaw… your own defeat! Even now, as you bring your arms up in front of your body as if to shield yourself… your body is signaling your desire to raise a wall between us…to create some distance from me. you implore me to come no further, to peer no more deeply into the innermost secrets of your heart… because everything I have said so far has been right on target! In addition… the way you're touching your lip… it's another of those tender, intimate behaviors that expresses the agitation in your heart. It's a defensive reflex… an attempt to ease your own anxieties and doubts… it's completely clear… whether you admit it or not, that you are aware… that you can never change yourself!" Neji said.

"Yes, she can!" Naruto yelled as he had had enough of what Neji was saying "You can't just arbitrarily decide these things about other people, you fool! Show him, Hinata! Beat up this baka!"

'… _Naruto-kun…'_ Hinata thought.

"Come on, Hinata. At least talking to him! Just hearing him has made me mad, and it's you who has to fight him!" Naruto yelled.

'_Naruto-kun…'_ Hinata thought.

'_He's so annoying…!'_ Neji thought.

'… _thank you.'_ Hinata thought as she stared at Neji with new-found confidence.

'_The look in her eyes is different now…'_ Neji thought before saying "So you're not going to withdraw…? Then I won't be responsible for what happens here."

Hinata then thought back to what Naruto had said at the end of the first exam.

"I don't quit, and I won't run!"

"I never go back on my word. That's my nindo"

'_I… I don't want to run anymore! Byakugan.'_ Hinata thought as she activated her eyes before she assumed the Juken stance while saying "Neji-onii-san… let's fight."

'_That's…'_ Lee thought.

"Okay then…" Neji said as he assumed the same stance.

"They have the same Hyuga style, after all… even her stance is identical to Neji's." Lee said.

"… Hyuga style?" Sakura asked.

"… The strongest school of Taijutsu in Konoha! … I've mentioned it before, I'm sure… that "the strongest Genin is a member of my own team"! I was referring… to Hyuga Neji!" Lee said.

Hinata and Neji then charged at each other and Hinata went on the offensive, delivering several palm strikes, but Neji blocked all of them.

'_Here it is…!'_ Hinata thought when she saw an opening and she quickly delivered a palm strike to Neji's stomach.

"Did she get him?" Sakura asked.

"No… it's just a scratch!" Naruto said.

"But… a scratch is all it would take. That's why the Hyuga clan is often regarded as Konoha's most illustrious family." Lee said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"… Among the Hyuga, there are unique Taijutsu passed down from one generation to the next! Unlike the Taijutsu that Lee and I specialize in, which is all about beatings, bruises and broken bones, a style its proponents call Goken. The Hyuga clan employs Juken, to inflict damage to the enemy's Keirakukei, through which the chakra flows. That leads to the breakdown of the internal organs, destroying the foe from within. It doesn't look like much, but… the effect grows gradually after the initial attack." Guy explained.

"There's no way of strengthening the internal organs, so… any enemy struck with that blow is going to succumb!" Kakashi said.

'_Yes, even I can...'_ Hinata thought as she directed a blow from Neji, away from her before delivering another palm strike to him.

'_Hinata-san's pushing him…!'_ Shino thought.

'… _Hinata…'_ Kurenai thought.

"YEAH, HINATA!" Naruto cheered.

"What kind of people are they… to attack the Keirakukei? It doesn't seem possible! I mean, the Keirakukei is just energy lines inside the body… so how do you attack something you can't see?" Sakura asked.

"They can. Those two… their Byakugan can see them. And Juken attacks are different from the purely brute-force, physical kind. You take your own chakra and release it through the energy portals in your hands, forcing it into the body of your foe… where it can inflict massive damage on the enemy's Keirakukei." Kakashi said as Hinata delivered another palm strike to Neji's body.

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto exclaimed.

'_Did she get him…?'_ Shino wondered.

Suddenly Hinata coughed up blood as Neji had hit her in the chest while he had the index and middle finger on his other hand stabbed at Hinata's arm.

"… So this is the full extent… of the main branch's strength?" Neji asked.

"Hey! What the heck? What about Hinata's attack?" Naruto yelled.

'_N-not yet…'_ Hinata thought before she attempted a palm strike to Neji's face, but the Hyuga prodigy grabbed Hinata's wrist with his left hand before hitting the index and middle finger on his right hand at Hinata's arm.

'… _What a fighter!'_ Kakashi thought.

'_D-don't tell me…'_ Kurenai thought.

'_My, my… it seems those who've called him the greatest genius in Hyuga clan history haven't overstated the case.'_ Hiruzen thought.

Neji then pushed Hinata's sleeve up her arm to reveal several black dots.

"… It can't be! You mean… from the very beginning…?" Hinata said.

"Precisely… my eyes can detect the Tenketsu!" Neji said before delivering a palm strike which sent Hinata skidding along the floor "Hinata-sama… this is the unalterable difference in strength… the distinction that separates the elite from the failure. This is the unchangeable reality. From the moment you said you wouldn't run, your defeat was inevitable. The only possible outcome was your present despair. … Withdraw!"

"… I… n-never… go back… on my word…" Hinata said as she got up on her feet.

'_Hinata…'_ Naruto thought.

"Because… that's… my nindo, too…!" Hinata said.

(Hinata received the title: I Never Go Back On My Word: It's her shinobi way, her Nindo. If she breaks it, she can no longer call herself a ninja.)

"Whoa! Hinata… man, she's got guts!" Naruto said.

"She's a lot like you…" Lee said.

"Yeah… I've noticed that she's always watching you, Naruto…" Sakura said.

"Come here…" Neji said, but suddenly Hinata coughed up more blood.

'_That kid is really at her limit… one more attack and she'll…!'_ Kurenai thought.

"Neji's strikes on her Tenketsu have completely arrested her flow of chakra. She's lost the capacity to perform the Juken attacks that flood her chakra into her opponent's body. This fight is as good as done." Kakashi said.

'_It seems inevitable. Neji will win.'_ Guy thought.

"Those eyes… so creepy! Hinata… she won't get killed, will she…?" Ino said.

"His level of strength… it… it's not a fair fight! He's just too strong…" Sakura said.

"Hang in there, Hinata!" Naruto yelled.

'… _Naruto-kun…!'_ Hinata thought before she looked at Neji.

'_The look of strength is back in her eyes…'_ Neji thought as Hinata charged towards him.

'_I've been watching…'_ Hinata thought as she and Neji once again began to trade blows as she continued thinking '_I've watched you for years! Why is that…? I don't know what it is, but… when I watch Naruto-kun… I feel a wellspring of courage bubbling up inside of me. I feel like if I just do my best… then even I… am worth something! That's how I start to feel!'_

Hinata then moved in for a palm strike, but Neji brought his left hand down in a chopping-motion and diverted Hinata's attack before he hit her in the face and sent her skidding a few feet back.

"… Hinata…" Kurenai said before thinking '_… You always had a habit of quitting… but at some point, you started trying to change. You trained constantly… desperately… but on missions, you were always full of mistakes. You faltered. You were weak. And you never had faith in yourself. But that's no longer true… the Hinata I see now… has a look in her eyes… unlike anything I've ever seen!'_ Kurenai thought before Hinata again charged at Neji.

'… _Naruto-kun! … I've been watching you for such a long time… but now, at last… you're watching me!'_ She thought as she ran towards Neji, but Neji struck her before she could strike him and she collapsed down on the floor.

"Don't you know when to quit? From the start, your attacks have been completely ineffective!" Neji said.

'_Please, Hinata… call this off. You have lost the match, but you've succeeded in changing yourself! You did a great job!' _Kurenai thought.

"That was Neji's master-stroke. It targets the heart. It's a pity, but the girl can no longer even stand…" Guy said.

"Seeing as the match cannot go on, I…" Hayate started, but Naruto cut him off.

"DON'T STOP IT!" He yelled.

"What are you talking about, you baka? She's got nothing left! She's already collapsed!" Sakura yelled, but suddenly, Hinata managed to climb up on her feet.

"… Why are you getting up? If you push too far, you really will die…" Neji said.

'… _It's because now the person I've admired for so long… is finally watching me, and… and in front of him… I can't bear to look uncool!'_ Hinata thought as she looked at Neji before she said "Th-this isn't over yet!"

"You're not fooling anyone. I can see with these eyes… it's taking all your strength just to stand! You were burdened from birth with the Hyuga clan's main branch… you've hated and punished yourself for your own weakness and frailty… but you can't fight your nature… or change your fate. But you need not suffer any more. Be at peace!" Neji said.

"But… you're wrong, Neji-onii-san… I can see it now… that even more than me… it's you who are torn and suffering… caught between the destinies of the main branch and cadet branch of our clan!" Hinata said before Neji suddenly charged at her.

"Neji… the match is already over!" Hayate yelled as he and several of the other Konoha Jonin were about to move in to stop the Hyuga prodigy, but before they could react, something completely unexpected happened, Hinata's eyes suddenly turned red and a white glyph appeared on the floor underneath her.

"… **Icicle…"** She said, but her voice sounded like a combination of her own… and something demonic, and suddenly came a trail of icicles shooting out of the ground towards Neji. Naruto and Gaara could also feel that their respective tenants started shivering in fear for some reason, and Shino had a similar experience with his Kikaichu.

'_What the…?'_ Neji thought before he jumped to the left to avoid the icicles. Just as he landed back on the floor however, the icicles vanished as though they were never there and Hinata collapsed.

Naruto, Sakura, Lee and Kurenai then shunshined down to where Hinata were lying.

"Hinata! Hey, are you all right?" Naruto yelled.

"She doesn't look good. Her face is so pale…!" Sakura said before Naruto glared at Neji.

"Hey… hey, you! Mr. Failure!" Neji said, catching the blond's attention "A couple of words of advice. A true shinobi would have too much class to make a spectacle of himself by cheering during a serious match. And one more thing… you may as well accept who you are. Once a failure, always a failure!"

"You wanna try me?" Naruto asked as he stood up on his feet before charging at Neji, but suddenly came Lee up in front of him.

"I understand almost painfully well what you're feeling, Naruto-kun! But… we have to limit our battles to the confines of the scheduled fights. The prospect of seeing a failure defeat a genius through sheer force of will… it really makes you look forward to the final rounds, eh…? Even though his opponent could very well be me! But even if it's you in the finals, Naruto-kun… I'll have no regrets!" He said.

"Yeah. I get it, okay?" Naruto said before Lee gave a thumbs-up to Guy who returned it.

'_Lee, you amazing kid! Nice!'_ Guy thought.

As some medics came and took Hinata away from there, Naruto crouched down and brought his fingers over Hinata's blood before standing up.

'_I give you my word…'_ He thought as he extended his right arm, holding his hand in a fist and said "I vow… to win!"

'_Naruto-kun…'_ Lee thought.

'_Naruto!'_ Sakura thought.

'… _Now we know there are three monsters here… but ours has an… inner nature that's uniquely bad.'_ Kankuro thought before stared at Gaara from the corner of his eye before thinking '_This isn't good… Gaara's smelled blood… and now that thing is waking up… starting to fidget… the demon that lives… within him! But that Neji guy… you'd think he hadn't even been harmed… that he still has hidden reserves of strength… we've got to start planning ahead… to prepare for the final rounds… maybe I should gather some intelligence… Naruto's an idiot… but he'd be a good place to start.'_ **(Kurama no Kyubi: Actually, he's only pretending to be an idiot sometimes.)**

"Hey…" A voice said when Naruto had reached the top of the stairs and he turned around to see Kankuro "You're a funny guy… I like that."

"Well you're not funny at all… and I don't like that!" Naruto said.

'_That miserable little… you are so dead the first time I get an excuse!'_ Kankuro thought.

"What the hack do you want?! Naruto asked.

"Well… you see… it's about that Hyuga Neji guy… but…" Kankuro said.

"I'm gonna get that guy!" Naruto said.

"… Fine, fine, but that's not what I asked." Kankuro said.

"Now, then… cough, cough… it's time for the next bout!" Hayate said.

"I guess it's finally your turn! Go, Lee!" Guy said.

"No way!" Lee said, surprising Guy, Neji, Kakashi and Sakura "I've waited this long… if it were up to me… I'd rather be the final act!"

'… _It almost looks like Lee-san is… sulking!'_ Sakura thought.

"Hey, Choji, you're in trouble now… only the strongest are left… what'll you do? Especially that kid from Suna… the look in his eyes worries me. he's the most dangerous type!" Shikamaru said.

"I'll just withdraw right away… so it won't matter!" Choji said.

"Well, you'll be giving up your chance for an all-you-can-eat victory barbecue once the exam is over…" Asuma said.

"Hey, don't bait him with food…!" Shikamaru said.

"B-but…" Choji stuttered.

"Don't worry. If things go bad, I'll jump in and stop the fight. Okay?" Asuma reassured.

"You hear that, Choji? You can go for it. Asuma-sensei will be looking out for you!" Ino said.

"Let's go! Think of the barbeque! Oh yeah! All the meat I can eat!" Choji yelled.

'… _Unless you get eaten first, you poor sap!'_ Shikamaru thought.

'_Now…'_ Dosu thought before Gaara suddenly shunshined down.

"Don't keep me waiting." He said before Choji suddenly started yelling.

"I'M SAFE!" He yelled.

**Gaara**

**Vs**

**Rock Lee**

'_So it's Lee-san… but… that huge gourd of Gaara's… what's it for? I have a bad feeling about this…'_ Sakura thought.

"Okay! You caught me! As soon as I said I wanted to be last… I was thwarted! It's a natural law… you can throw a stone at a telephone pole time and again and never hit it… but the minute you aim to miss, you end up hitting the thing dead center. I didn't really want to be the final act anyway!" Lee yelled.

'_Then… who's the one who got caught?'_ Sakura thought.

"Lee! I've noticed something crucial that most people may have over-looked." Guy said.

"Yes, sir!" Lee said.

"That gourd thing of his is quite suspicious…" Guy said.

"I see…" Lee said as he started writing on a piece of paper.

"Stop taking notes! You won't have time to consult them in the heat of battle!" Guy said.

"… I see…" Lee said as he put away the piece of paper.

'_I hope Lee-san will be all right…'_ Sakura thought.

"All right! Go get him, Lee!" Guy yelled.

"Yes, sir!" Lee yelled as he jumped down and landed in front of Gaara "Facing you so soon… makes me very happy!"

"I don't know what kind of tricks this bowl-cut kid has up his sleeve… but there's no way he'll win against Gaara." Kankuro said.

"No… he's stronger than you think…" Naruto said as he remembered Lee's fight with Sasuke.

The cork on Gaara's gourd suddenly shot out and headed straight for Lee, but said Taijutsu user simply caught it before saying "Please… don't rush things."

'_Watch yourself… Lee.'_ Guy thought.

"All right, then. Let the ninth-round battle begin!" Hayate announced.

'_He may be fast… but his kick wasn't anything special. Heh… he's no match for Gaara.'_ Temari thought as Lee charged at Gaara.

"Konoha Senpou." Lee called out as he moved in for a roundhouse kick, but he hit a shield of sand '_… Sand…?'_ Suddenly the sand crashed into Lee and sent him rolling along the floor.

'… _Sand? He's manipulating sand?'_ Sakura thought.

'_What a curious technique…'_ Kakashi thought.

'_The gourd is full of sand?'_ Naruto thought.

'_Darn!'_ Lee thought as he skidded to a halt before charging at Gaara again. He then attempted a punch, but the sand shield stopped it, then he tried a kick, but it was stopped too '_Without even moving a muscle… darn!'_

"Fast as he is, Lee-san is getting nowhere!" Sakura said.

"His attacks just aren't working!" Naruto said.

"Physical attacks are worthless against Gaara. The sand forms a shield to protect his body… independent of Gaara's will. That's why, to this day, there's not one person… who has ever wounded him." Kankuro said and Naruto gulped as Lee tried to punch Gaara again, but was stopped by the shield of sand again.

"Why is Lee-san only using Taijutsu? Taijutsu are ineffective and painful against that wall of sand. He needs to use Ninjutsu and start attacking from a distance!" Sakura said.

"It's not that Lee won't use Ninjutsu… it's that he can't." Guy said.

'… _What?'_ Sakura thought in surprise.

"… Lee has practically no Ninjutsu or Genjutsu abilities…" Guy said.

"A-are you joking? Then how has he lasted this long?" Sakura yelled.

"When I first met Lee, he had absolutely no sense… and no talent or ability whatsoever! That's why the only moves he's been able to develop are Taijutsu. There aren't many ninja who can use neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu…" Guy said.

Gaara's sand suddenly started shooting up from the floor to try and grab Lee, but the Taijutsu user jumped backwards before jumping up and landing on the tip of the finger of the right hand of the giant statue that was just on the other side of the wall.

"… And that's precisely why Lee can win!" Guy said before giving Lee a thumbs-up and yelling "Lee! Take them off!"

"B-but Guy-sensei! You said... never to do that unless I was defending the lives of people who are precious to me!" Lee yelled.

"It's all right! I'll allow it!" Guy yelled and Lee then removed some weights that were wrapped around his legs.

"… Weights?" Sakura asked.

'_Oh, Guy… the most sickeningly sweet, sentimentally traditional kind of training!'_ Kakashi thought.

"Right! Now I can move freely!" Lee yelled as he dropped the weights.

'_How dumb!'_ Kankuro thought.

"I see!" Naruto said.

'_Hm… there's no way dropping a few weights… will let you keep up with Gaara's sand…'_ Temari thought and her along with nearly anyone else's eyes widened when the weights crashed into the floor with a bang and huge dust clouds came up.

'_Aren't you over-doing it, Guy?'_ Kakashi thought.

"GO! LEE!" Guy yelled.

"YES, SIR!" Lee yelled before he suddenly vanished and reappeared behind Gaara before attempting a punch, but this time Gaara's sand was just in time to block it.

'_Almost!'_ Sakura thought.

'_He's fast…'_ Kakashi thought.

Lee then tried to kick Gaara and it almost went through, he then attempted a punch before another punch, each attack was faster than the last.

"It's because he had no aptitude for either Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… that Lee devoted himself so exclusively to Taijutsu. All his time… all his energy… all his focus. So that even if he lacked any other kind of abilities at all… he'd still be unbeatable…" Guy said as Lee came up behind Gaara "… as a Taijutsu specialist!"

Lee then jumped into the air above Gaara before giving a heel kick to the Ichibi Jinchuriki's head, surprising most of the audience.

"In terms of speed, Lee can't be surpassed… I thought I gave you all fair warning… that this boy… is really strong!" Guy said.

"Well… here we go!" Lee said as he skidded backwards.

'_It's unbelievable. He actually managed… to wound Gaara!'_ Temari thought.

"Bushy-brows has gotten even faster!" Naruto said before thinking '_He really is strong…'_

"… No way…" Kankuro said in disbelief.

"LEE! NOW… EXPLODE!" Guy yelled.

"YES, SIR!" Lee yelled before he vanished and reappeared behind Gaara, but as Gaara looked over his shoulder, Lee vanished again and this time reappeared in front of the Suna-nin "Over here…" He then punched Gaara away.

"W-wow! He's so fast! The sand barrier couldn't keep up with him. It was no protection at all!" Sakura exclaimed.

'_I'm wearing him down!'_ Lee thought.

"W-wow… his moves are so fast, my eyes can't even track them!" Choji said.

"… This is bad…" Kankuro said.

"You got that right! That raccoon-eyed jerk! After the way he just got hit, he shouldn't even still be standing!" Naruto said.

"… That's not the problem…" Kankuro said.

As Gaara stood up on his feet again, everyone could see that of his skin seemed to start falling off.

"… What…?" Lee said surprised as he saw that it wasn't the skin that was falling off, but an armor of sand, and Gaara seemed to have gotten an insane look in his eyes.

'_He mummified himself in sand…! The blows barely touched him.'_ Kakashi thought.

'_Wh-what is he…?'_ Sakura wondered as she gulped.

"An armor of sand? When did he encase himself in that?" Naruto asked.

'_He was wearing the sand like a shell, eh…? Hmm… it's been quite some time since I saw that expression on his face… he's usually as composed as a statue, the picture of politeness and decorum. I had sensed that, during the Chunin examination, he was becoming more and more unstable… but… the other Gaara… is now totally awake…!'_ Kankuro thought before saying "If this Gaara is able to catch Lee… Lee will be toyed with and then killed!"

Suddenly the sand started covering Gaara's body to repair the sand armor the Lee had destroyed.

'_If Gaara has been driven to using the armor… then right now, his mind is purely on defense. He's been driven into a corner…! That Lee is really something! But the end of this is a foregone conclusion… because Gaara… is a genius!'_ Kankuro thought.

"Is that all…?" Gaara asked.

'_It's an amazing defense! He's encased in protection, which makes my speed irrelevant… my only shot is to just keep pounding and punishing him that outer layer of sand!'_ Lee thought.

'_What's he up to now?'_ Temari thought.

'_Lee-san…'_ Sakura thought.

'… _The Renge!'_ Lee thought before he looked up towards Guy who then gave an affirmative nod and Lee started unwrapping the bandages around his arms.

'_The Renge will let him strike his foe at high speed… a thin layer of sand won't stand up to it.'_ Guy thought before Lee suddenly started running around Gaara faster than the eye could see '_And if it happens that he's wearing a thick shell of sand, it will be almost impossible for him to kick outward… in which case…!'_

"Come on… hurry up!" Gaara said as he started getting impatient.

"As you wish!" Lee said as he kicked Gaara into the air, but thanks to the sand armor, he was barely lifted off the ground "And that's not all!"

Lee then, started delivering a fury of kicks to Gaara that sent the Suna-nin ever higher up as his sand tried to reach them. Then Lee got up behind Gaara, but before he could do anything else, he felt a slight sting of pain and close his eyes, and this didn't go unnoticed by Gaara.

'… _Even an ordinary Renge move exerts a great strain on the user's body… that many consecutive kicks may be too much even for Lee… better make your next move a decisive one, kid!'_ Guy thought as he had clasped his hands together and closed his eyes shut to pray.

"Gotcha!" Lee said as the bandages had finished wrapping themselves around Gaara before the started spiraling down to the floor "Omote Renge."

They hit the floor and Lee jumped away, so that he wouldn't get killed as well by the impact.

"… D-do you think he's dead…?" Naruto asked.

"Uh… you're kidding, right…?" Kankuro said.

"Lee-san… he… he won!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yosh!" Guy said.

When Lee landed however, he saw that Gaara's sand armor fell off to reveal… that it was empty.

"… When did he slip out of that shell? There's no way he could have gotten past Lee!" Guy yelled.

"It happened when your eyes were closed in prayer, Guy. Lee paused in pain for just a moment… and that's when…" Kakashi said as Gaara came up behind Lee, laughing an insane laughter.

'_It's finally awakened…! Gaara's inner demon!'_ Kankuro thought as Gaara made a hand sign and a wave of sand shot towards Lee and threw him into the wall before shooting towards him again and crashing into the wall.

'_Mister Bowl-cut is at the end of his rope. Gaara's just toying with him…'_ Kankuro thought as the dust cloud that came from the sand's impact with the wall faded, revealing Lee who was holding his arms out, in front of him to protect himself.

"Why doesn't Lee just duck?" Sakura asked.

"… The Renge technique he just used… it's a double-edged sword." Guy said.

"Fundamentally, it's a forbidden move. Using that level of high-speed Taijutsu puts a huge strain on the body. Right now, Lee's nothing but a mass of pain and weakness… isn't that right, Guy?" Kakashi said.

"B-but… that means…" Sakura said as Gaara's sand slammed into Lee, sending him skidding away "… at this rate, Lee-san's gonna…"

'…_Lee…'_ Guy thought as he recalled the first time he saw Lee.

Flashback

Lee, as well as the other kids in his class at the academy were currently running rounds outside the academy.

"Ha ha ha ha… you baka! There's no way you'll ever be a ninja!" One of the kids said.

"Yeah. How could someone who can't even use Ninjutsu hope to become a ninja?" Another one said.

"But… I will!" Lee retorted.

"You're not capable of anything but Taijutsu… and you're even mediocre at that! What were they thinking, letting you into the ninja academy?" Another kid said as Lee tried to ignore him "Heh… want to know what the other kids call you?"

"No!" Lee said as he put his hands over his ears before he ran off and the other kids started laughing.

"Lee! Get in line!" The teacher yelled after him as Guy looked down on the scene from a window.

"Heh heh… so that's the gaki they're all gossiping about… the little hot-head who couldn't!" He said.

Flashback end

Lee was then hit by another wave of sand, courtesy of Gaara.

'_But Lee… you took your mediocre skills in Taijutsu… and made exercise and practice your obsession, and then…'_ Guy thought as he recalled when Lee, Neji and Tenten first became Genin.

Flashback

"Now that you've officially become Genin… I want to hear all about your goals!" Guy said as he was standing in front of the three Genin.

"I don't want to say." Neji said.

"Well then…" Guy said.

"I want to become a strong kunoichi, like my idol, the legendary Tsunade-sama!" Tenten said.

"SENSEI!" Lee yelled as he raised his hand "I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… can still become a splendid ninja! It's my only goal!"

'_He's got good eyes…'_ Guy thought before Neji chuckled and Lee stood up while pointing an accusing finger at the Hyuga.

"HEY! What's so funny?" he yelled.

Flashback end

Another wave of sand came at Lee and he attempted to get out of the way as he recalled the end-result of one of his battles against Neji.

Flashback

Lee hit the ground as he had lost yet another battle against the Hyuga prodigy.

"Oh, Lee-san! Don't you know when to quit? You don't stand a chance here… not against Neji. He's a genius… and you're _not_.' Tenten said.

"Give up, Lee. No matter how hard you try, you can't hope to beat me. that's just the way it is." Neji said.

Flashback end

Guy then recalled one time he had seen the kid training.

Flashback

Lee was currently at one of the training fields, doing push-ups as Guy spied on him.

'_Okay… if 500 consecutive push-ups don't make me strong enough, then I'll do 1.200 double-skips with the jump-rope…'_ Lee thought and sure enough, just a little while later he was doing double-skips with the jump rope as he thought '_And if 1.200 double-skips don't do it, then I'll kick the wooden practice dummy 2.000 times!'_

'… _1.116… 1.117… whoa!'_ Guy thought, but Lee suddenly tripped in the rope and fell head-first into the wooden practice dummy and as he hit the ground, he started crying.

"So, Lee… taking a break already?" Guy asked as he stepped out from behind the tree that he'd been hiding behind and Lee got up on his feet.

"Did you… need something, Guy-sensei? if it's about the blunder I made during our last mission, I thought I'd already made it up to you!" Lee said before he started kicking the wooden dummy.

"You know… you really are very different from Neji… you're no genius at Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… and you really aren't a Taijutsu virtuoso, either. Nevertheless, Lee… there's one area where you completely surpass Neji. You're a genius of another kind with great hidden potential." Guy said.

"You're just saying that to be nice!" Lee said as he continued kicking.

"I'm not trying to be nice. I'm just saying… that you are…" Guy said as Lee stopped kicking "… a genius of hard work."

(Lee received the title: Genius Of Hard Work: He trains after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner and after supper… he might be over-doing it a little.)

"… Do you really… mean that? I-I've only been able to make it this far… by having faith that, if I trained two or three times as hard as Neji, I might finally beat him. I've always believed that. But… lately, I've started to feel that I had no hope… of ever measuring up to a true genius like Neji. I've wondered if it was possible for hard work alone to be rewarded… so I've kept challenging Neji… but the results have always been the same… I'm no match for him! And even now, on missions, my legs still tremble in fear… fear that no matter how hard I work, I'll never get stronger. It scares me so much I can't stand it. … I don't know what to do…" Lee said.

"All your hard work will prove worthless unless you believe in yourself!" Guy said.

Flashback end

'_Thank you… Guy-sensei…'_ Lee thought as he had also recalled it before he recalled another conversation he had had with his sensei.

Flashback

"You remind me of me… way back when I was a complete failure. Nowadays, in matches against that elite genius, Kakashi, we're nearly even! "I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu can still become a splendid ninja!" That's your shinobi path, isn't it? It's a great goal… one that's really worth fighting for. It's the path you chose, so have faith and follow it! Become such a strong fighter that I can just sit back and enjoy the show! You got that, Lee?" Guy said as he patted the boy on the head.

"YES, SIR!" Lee exclaimed.

Flashback end

Guy looked down on the battle as another wave of sand came towards Lee.

"… Lee, no! Give up before he kills you!" Sakura yelled, but to almost everyone's surprise, Lee dodged it.

'_He got his speed back!'_ Naruto thought.

'_Guy-sensei is sitting back and enjoying the show… just knowing that is enough to revive me…! … And to make me… stronger than ever!'_ Lee thought as he assumed his Taijutsu stance while smiling.

"Lee-san's being pushed around so brutally… why is he smiling?" Sakura asked.

"He's about to start pushing back!" Guy said, catching the pinkette's attention "The lotus of Konoha… will bloom twice!"

"… For you, it ends here." Gaara said.

"Well, one way or another… the next move will be the last." Lee said.

'_The lotus of Konoha will bloom twice?'_ Kakashi thought as his visible eye widened before he said "Guy… don't tell me you…!"

"On the contrary. I did." Guy said.

"Then… that kid, who's just a Genin… is able to open the Hachimon…?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes… that's right." Guy said.

'_It's awful…'_ Kakashi thought.

"He has the talent…" Guy said.

"No matter how much talent he has, you taught him something horribly dangerous! The Ura Renge tops the list… of moves you shouldn't teach!" Kakashi yelled.

'… _Ura Renge…?'_ Neji thought.

"It's none of my business what that child means to you… and I'll spare us both the lecture about not being governed by your feelings… but you crossed a line on this! … You disappoint me, Guy!" Kakashi said.

"You… don't know the first thing about that kid…" Guy said as he remembered what Lee had said when he first became a Genin.

"I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… can still become a splendid ninja! It's my only goal!"

"That boy has something he values so deeply that he's willing to die for the sake of it. That's why I… wanted to help him become someone who'd be able to stand up for his ideals. I had to." Guy said as Lee started to hold his arms in an X-shape in front of his face.

'_So he was able to back from exhaustion with such abnormal speed because he'd forced open the Kyumon.'_ Kakashi thought before saying "So tell me, Guy… which of the Hachimon has he gotten up to so far?"

"The Tomon." Guy said and Kakashi's visible eye widened again.

'_That feat should be impossible to achieve through hard work alone… so… the boy's a genius after all.'_ Kakashi thought.

"Wh-what are you both talking about? You keep mentioning these… Hachimon?" Sakura asked.

"The Hachimon act as limiters that must be released in preparation for performing the Ura Renge." Guy explained.

"Limiters… released?" Sakura asked as Kakashi lifted his Hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan.

"Yes…" Kakashi said

"At eight specific points along the Keirakukei there are places where the chakra nodes converge: The Kaimon, the Kyumon, the Seimon, the Shomon, the Tomon, the Keimon, the Kyomon and the Shimon. Those are called the Hachimon… they constantly maintain limits on the amount of chakra flowing through the body… limits that the Renge uses chakra to forcibly override… enabling the user to draw upon strength that is dozens of times his usual level… even if the user's body is destroyed in the process. Incidentally, the Omote Renge opens only the Kaimon." Guy explained.

"And… the Ura Renge?" Sakura asked.

"Opening the Kaimon frees the user from his own mental inhibitions. The opening of the Kyumon boosts his strength… and with the opening of the Seimon, one can begin the Ura Renge…" Guy said.

"But… the Omote Renge alone got him so beat up… if he tries to perform anymore moves…" Sakura said.

"That's right… this technique is a double-edged sword. The state where all the Hachimon have been opened is called the "Hachimon Tonko no Jin"… and anyone who achieves that state will – however briefly – be granted strength that surpasses even the Hokage's. but in exchange… that person will inevitably die!" Kakashi said.

'… _Neji… Sasuke… and even…'_ Lee thought as he thought of the three people that he wanted to fight the most, Neji, Sasuke and Naruto '_I will not be… the only one who fails! Guy-sensei… please… notice me… now, of all times… now, when I finally attain… my shinobi path!'_ Suddenly, his skin turned red as small rocks started floating around him and his hair stood up "Seimon… KAI!"

'_The color of his skin…!'_ Sakura thought.

'_That technique reminds me of Over-limit… but somehow I doubt it's related.'_ Naruto thought.

'_He opened the Seimon… he's going to make his move!'_ Kakashi thought.

'_And, while I'm at it… Shomon… KAI!'_ Lee thought as all of his muscles tensed and a small trail of blood came out of his nose.

'_He's quite something…'_ Kakashi thought just before Lee vanished, and before anyone knew it, he kicked Gaara up into the air '_He's fast!'_

"Gaara?" Kankuro said as he couldn't see his younger brother anywhere.

"You're looking in the wrong place!" Naruto said as he looked up and Kankuro followed his stare and his eyes widened.

"Look up!" Shikamaru yelled.

"But what about Lee? I don't see him anywhere!" Choji said.

'_Now it looks like the sand… just can't keep up!'_ Sakura thought.

Lee suddenly appeared in front of Gaara and punched him, making the Suna-nin fly towards the wall, but then the Konoha-nin appeared behind him and punched him again. It went on like that for several minutes as both ninja went through unbelievable pain.

'_What? My sand armor is… peeling off?'_ Gaara thought as he noted that his sand encasing started falling off.

'_The sand armor again, eh? At this rate…'_ Lee thought as he prepared for another punch.

'_His muscles have torn… if this goes any further…'_ Kakashi thought.

'_But… it's only Lee! How did he get so…?_' Neji thought as he had activated the Byakugan.

"This is the end! Tomon… KAI!" Lee yelled.

'_My defenses are failing… is he even human…?'_ Gaara thought.

'_Hey, Neji! This is a move I was keeping in reserve to use against you, but… I'll give you a sneak preview!'_ Lee thought before he punched Gaara in the stomach, sending him towards the floor. But Lee had managed to wrap some of the bandages on his left arm around Gaara's waist, stopping the Jinchuriki from hitting the floor.

'_The sand shield can't keep up… much of the sand armor has been torn away… this is not good…!'_ Temari thought.

'_The Ura Renge… a series of Taijutsu performed with such speed that the attacker is untouchable! These rapid moves are Lee's key to winning the match… there's no way the sand can catch up…!'_ Guy thought.

'_This is the finale!'_ Lee thought before he pulled the bandages and Gaara was pulled towards him. Lee then thrusted his right hand and right foot into Gaara's stomach while yelling "Ura Renge!" And the Suna-nin shot towards the floor and impacted with it with such force that a tremendous shockwave almost blew everyone off their feet.

'_It's so fast, you can't even see…'_ Shikamaru thought as Kakashi and Guy noticed that the gourd on Gaara's back turned into sand just before the impact.

'_Don't tell me…'_ Guy thought.

'_The gourd is turning to sand…!'_ Kakashi thought.

As Lee started to climb up on his feet, he saw that Gaara was laying on a pillow of sand with his right arm extended towards him.

'_The gourd… was made of sand… he used it to protect himself!'_ Guy thought as sand suddenly started going up Lee's left arm and left leg.

'_That move… is…!'_ Shino thought.

"Sabaku Kyu!" Gaara said as he clenched his fist and the sand on Lee's limbs imploded, crushing the Konoha-nin's bones before said Konoha-nin fell to the floor and another wave of sand rushed at him, but to Gaara's shock, Guy suddenly appeared and the sand dispersed.

Suddenly Gaara felt an intense pain on the right side of his forehead and he brought his hand up there before asking "Why are you… helping him?"

Guy then thought of several things that Lee have said.

"Heh heh… I'm all right… 'cause I'm so strong!"

"Guy-sensei, I'll excel in the Chunin exams… you can sit back and enjoy the show!"

"I want to prove that even a person who can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu… can still become a splendid ninja! It's my only goal!"

'_He's…'_ Guy thought before saying "He's my lovable, precious protégé!"

'… _Those words are beyond the scope of Gaara's understanding…'_ Baki thought before Gaara turned and walked away as the sand flowed up to his back to reform the gourd.

"Forget it…" He said.

"The victor is Gaara!" Hayate said before – to everyone's surprise – Lee stood back up on his feet whit his hair shadowing the eyes as he got into his Taijutsu stance.

'_I can't believe it…'_ Guy thought.

'_He opened the Tomon… his arms and legs were crushed… how can he still stand?'_ Kakashi thought as Guy walked over to the kid and put his hands on Lee's shoulders.

"Lee, it's all right… it's over. You're in no shape to be standing…" Guy said before noticing Lee's eyes and as he started crying, he thought _'… Lee… you… you incredible kid…'_ Lee's eyes were completely pale, meaning that he was unconscious '_Even though you've been knocked senseless, you're still… trying to stay true to your Nindo… Lee… you are already… a splendid ninja…!'_

(Lee received the title: A Splendid Ninja: It's what he's wished for all his life, but now that he's finally achieved his dreams, he's also been crippled to the extent that he can't remain a ninja. How will he cope with his dream being shattered like this?)

'_Lee-san…!'_ Sakura thought as she climbed up on the fence, preparing to jump down.

"Sakura!" Kakashi said, catching the pinkette's attention "How do you intend to help him? Your presence will only cause him pain…"

"Hm! He never had a chance against Gaara…" Temari said before Naruto jumped downand started to run towards Lee, who Guy had laid down on the floor.

'_How could Bushy-Brows lose to such a jerk?'_ The blond Chosen thought as he ran past Gaara.

'_Naruto…'_ Kakashi thought.

"Emergency unit, please hurry!" Hayate yelled as the medic-nins came.

"E-excuse us!" One of the medics said before he noticed something and walked over to Guy "Are you the Jonin responsible for him? If I may have a word…"

"… Though he's breathing on his own, he has compound compressive fractures and torn muscles throughout his body. If that were the full extent of his injuries, we could still expect a full recovery, but… the damage to his attacked left arm and leg is especially severe. I don't want to say this, but…" The medic whispered so that only Guy would hear it, but Naruto – thanks to his stronger-than-normal hearing – heard every word "This kid's body is so destroyed… he'll never recover enough to be a shinobi again." At this, Guy and Naruto's eyes widened.

"N-no way… you must be kidding…" Naruto said.

'… _Lee… I never let myself think that you could lose… I wanted to help you achieve your Nindo… please forgive me, Lee… for not stopping you… before it was too late.'_ Guy thought.

'_Lee… even at the bitter end, you didn't realize… the heavens would never allow you to advance further… if your triumph were a pyrrhic victory.'_ Neji thought.

Gaara then shunshined up to where Baki and Temari were standing and the blond girl said "Welcome back, Gaara…"

"Guy…" Kakashi said as he looked down towards his rival before thinking '_… I was pretty cocky earlier, but… to be honest… if I'd been in your position… I probably wouldn't have been able to stop Lee either.'_

**Akimichi Choji**

**Vs**

**Dosu Kinuta**

"Well… it's the finale… the 10th round battle. Both contestants, please step forward!" Hayate said as Naruto and Guy walked back up to the others.

"Looks like I'm last…" Dosu said before thinking '_In any case, I've got to make it to the finals and fight Sasuke… otherwise I'll fail to meet your expectations Orochimaru-sama. I think I finally understand what you were up to… when you hunted down Sasuke in the forest and – instead of killing him – placed your curse mark… the three of us served as your guinea pigs. You sent us after Sasuke with assassination orders… but really you just intended for us to fight him… to test his abilities and experience them firsthand. What you want is not Sasuke's life, but Sasuke himself…'_

"You've been toying with me, too…" He said as he jumped down and appeared in front of Choji, who had already walked down there.

"Uh… well… let the 10th round battle begin!" Hayate said.

"Go get him!" Shikamaru yelled.

"You can do it, fatso!" Ino cheered.

"Ugh…! Shut your mouth and keep your eyes open! I'm gonna end this match fast so I can come beat you up!" Choji yelled.

"… Well then… I'll dispense with the games and quickly finish it for you, fatso!" Dosu said.

This battle was the shortest in the entire Exam, Choji used the combination of Baika and Nikudan Sensha. But Dosu easily managed to dodge it before Choji rammed straight into the wall and when he stopped to roll the other way, Dosu hit him with his amplifier and since over 70% of the human body consists of water, Choji was knocked unconscious.

"We have a winner! Dosu Kinuta!" Hayate announced.

'_Orochimaru-sama… or rather… Orochimaru… I'll show you… I'm not just your guinea pig!'_ Dosu thought.

"Hey, are you all right?" A medic-nin that was crouched next to Choji asked.

"I… I want… to eat meat…" Choji said.

"He even went easy on him…" Shikamaru said.

"Well… he lost, but I guess I'll still take him out for barbecue." Asuma said.

'_Phew… _cough, cough… _it's finally over…'_ Hayate thought.

'_At last… the finals…'_ Hiruzen thought.

"Uh… well then, as of this moment, the preliminaries to the third exam… are now complete!" Hayate announced and shortly after were all of the Genin that had advanced – except for Sasuke – standing in front of Hiruzen and the exam proctors.

"To those of you who won your bouts and qualified for the finals of the third phase of the Chunin exams – although one of you isn't here, cough – congratulations!" Hayate said.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura said, getting her sensei's attention "…I… I want to ask you something…"

"… Something about Sasuke…?" Kakashi asked, having a good idea of where this was going.

"Well… unfortunately, I don't know much yet, either… but… don't be worried." Kakashi said before thinking '_… Whatever comes next… it's up to Sasuke now.'_ He then turned to Sakura and said "Sakura, I'm going to step out for a little bit, so… listen carefully to the explanation of the finals for me, okay…?"

"Uh… okay…" Sakura said as Kakashi shunshined away.

'_Including the absent Uchiha Sasuke, there are… five Konoha… three Suna ninja… and one Oto… hmm.'_ Hiruzen thought before saying "Well then… starting now… I shall be explaining the finals…"

'_Okay! Finally!'_ Naruto thought.

Konoha

Somewhere in the village were Orochimaru leaning at a column and Kabuto was kneeling in front of him.

"The preliminaries have safely concluded… they will now proceed to the finals." Kabuto said.

"How tranquil… or rather… how naively peaceful this nation has become… while all the other countries are busy with military expansion races…" Orochimaru said.

"So if we strike now…?" Kabuto asked as he stood up on his feet.

"Well, yes… although I doubt it would be any fun to kill that feeble old geezer…" Orochimaru said.

"… Are you so sure of yourself…? To me… it still seems like you're faltering. Soon, the powers of each hidden village will collide and enter a fierce, lengthy conflict… Otogakure will be one of those involved… and you're planning to be the trigger of that… and to that end, that boy… he's a bullet, right? Uchiha Sasuke-kun, was it…?" Kabuto said.

"Heh… your insights are disgustingly accurate…" Orochimaru said.

"Well, obviously not… because I didn't know about Dosu, Zaku and Kin. When I was assigned to gather intelligence on Sasuke-kun… I wanted to understand the power of those three Oto ninja. I made a foolish tactical error… I even provoked them into attacking me… and overestimated my own defenses. It seems… you still don't put your full trust in me… isn't that right?" Kabuto said.

"Those three are so inconsequential… is it really necessary for me to tell of such trivialities? You're my right- hand man… that itself is evidence of my trust. That's why… I was thinking of entrusting Sasuke-kun to you… the curse mark I put on him… it seems it's been sealed by that pesky Kakashi… not that it's of much consequence. But before the darkness in his soul is extinguished… I want you to kidnap him right away." Orochimaru said.

"How unlike you… you're worried!" Kabuto said.

"There _is_ something causing a bit of concern…" Orochimaru said.

"You mean… the Chosen One, Uzumaki Naruto-kun?" Kabuto asked.

'_Heh… a sharp child, indeed…'_ Orochimaru thought before saying "Sasuke-kun is an embodiment of vengeance… his sole reason for living is the desire to kill his older brother. Until he achieves that goal, he cannot die. And yet… when we fought each other… even though he knew he couldn't prevail against me… he came at me without any fear of death. And I hadn't thought he was a child who would rush so eagerly to his demise… according to your notes, it seems that his contact with the Chosen One… is changing Sasuke-kun's purpose and his soul. Since Naruto-kun possesses so much influence over Sasuke-kun… I must separate them immediately… as soon as I can, I've got to stain him with my colors…" Orochimaru said.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to kill Naruto-kun?" Kabuto asked.

"No! My plans will be meaningless if the world is destroyed. And if I'm right, if Naruto-kun dies, the world won't last long enough for the next Chosen One to become ready." Orochimaru said.

"Well then…" Kabuto said as he turned around and started walking.

"Kabuto-kun… you…" Orochimaru said, catching the Oto spy's attention "If you want to stop me… your only chance is to kill Sasuke-kun now. There's no way you could kill me, eh? Even if you're strong… you're no stronger than Kakashi, so…" As the snake Sannin said this, Kabuto sweated heavily as he got nervous "Heh… I'm joking… now… you may go! I'm putting my trust in you…" Kabuto then smirked slightly before shunshining away as Orochimaru thought '_Heh… that face… I wonder what he's thinking…'_

Forest of Death, tower, arena

"As I mentioned earlier, you will conduct your final round matches in front of everyone. Each of you represents the battle strengths of your respective lands… so we want you to exhibit and fully showcase your various talents. And thus the finals… will commence one month from now!" Hiruzen said.

"We're not doing it right here, right now?" Naruto asked.

"We call this the requisite preparation period…" Hiruzen said.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"Well… it's a period of time that allows us to relay the results of the preliminaries to the rulers and shinobi leaders of each land… and to summon them to the finals… and it also serves as a preparation period for you applicants." Hiruzen said.

'_This old geezer, he always beats around the bush…'_ Kankuro thought before saying "I still don't get it! what do you mean?"

"You must prepare to understand your enemy and understand yourself. During this period, you can analyze the intelligence you have gathered on your foes during the preliminaries… and use it to increase your chances of victory. Even though – up to this point – all the battles have been real battles… you were conducted on the premise that you were fighting an "unknown enemy"…" Hiruzen said.

'… _Well, yeah…! I never dreamed that this guy would use sand as a weapon…'_ Shikamaru thought as he stared towards Gaara from the corner of his eyes.

"However, the finals are a different story… some of you probably ended up exposing everything you've got in front of your rivals… and some of you may have gone up against comparatively strong opponents and found yourselves badly injured. In order to make the finals fair and just, we give you this month. Each of you must embrace the opportunity to practice hard, learn some new tricks… and of course get some rest, as well!" Hiruzen said.

Konoha, hospital

There were three dead ANBU operatives lying there on the floor as Kabuto walked towards the bed that Sasuke lay in as he sighed.

"An excess of brilliance can be a disadvantage… we stood out too much. I wonder if catching Orochimaru-sama's eye will mean ruin for both of us…" He said before thinking '_He's so young… how could he have this demon dwelling in his heart? It will serve HIS purpose nicely… when he eventually uses that jutsu to make this kid into…'_

Konoha, Orochimaru

'_Kabuto… perhaps you really will… kill Sasuke-kun, after all…'_ Orochimaru thought.

Konoha, hospital

Kabuto took out a scalpel and brought it closer towards Sasuke's neck before he suddenly threw it towards something – or someone – behind him.

"Only you, Kakashi… would think to stop my attack from my blind-spot…" He said after Kakashi had caught the scalpel.

"You… you're no ordinary Genin, are you…? You made your attack immediately upon noticing my presence… you're pretty impressive." Kakashi said.

"No… I'm not so great…" Kabuto said.

"What do you want with Sasuke? Depending on the circumstances… I'll have to arrest and interrogate you." Kakashi said.

"I wonder if you can…?" Kabuto said as he turned around to face the masked Jonin "… Someone like you…?"

"You want to test "someone like me"…?" Kakashi asked before saying "What are you?"

'_Every single one of the ANBU soldiers I had gathered… he slaughtered them all… and with such ease!'_ The masked Jonin thought before saying "You're… the son of… a Konoha medic, right? A perpetual failure of a ninja… your name is… Kabuto, yes?"

"… Next time, you should probably ready… at least 10 guards." Kabuto said.

"Just shut up and answer my questions." Kakashi said.

"And what if I refuse?" Kabuto asked.

"I'm the one asking the questions here… show some respect. Are you… in league with Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked and Kabuto smirked.

"If you arrest me here, right now, you might never be able to prove my connection to Orochimaru. No matter what kind of torture Genjutsu you inflict upon me, I won't spill a single secret… and besides, I don't really like confrontations. It'll all come out eventually, so… why don't you just let it go for now?" Kabuto said.

"You… you're just a selfish little brat, aren't you…? You shouldn't mock your superiors." Kakashi said as he pulled out a kunai.

"You won't just release me, then?" Kabuto said as he pulled out a knife.

"You know the laws of this village… how spies are dealt with." Kakashi said.

"You're acting awfully smug, considering… that the circumstances are in my favor…" Kabuto said before he held the knife over Sasuke's neck.

Kabuto then thrusted the knife downwards, but Kakashi reacted quickly and appeared next to him before he struck the Oto-nin's knife out of his hand while grabbing the spy's right leg and kicking him in the back so that he fell down on the floor. Then one of the "dead" ANBU suddenly rose up and ran for the door.

'_Oh… aha!'_ Kakashi thought before the "ANBU" noticed a second Kakashi standing on the other side of the door.

"A Kage Bunshin!" The "ANBU" said before he stopped and looked from Kakashi to Kakashi, before a second "ANBU" suddenly rose up and threw several kunais at the window before jumping through it, and Kakashi ran over to the window and looked down to see the "ANBU" remove his mask to reveal that it was Kabuto.

'_Darn it… he got away…'_ Kakashi thought before he turned around to see the dead ANBU fall back down to the floor as the Kage Bunshin puffed out of existence "Amazing…" He then walked over to the body of "Kabuto" and knelt down to see scar-like marks on his neck and he thought '_Just as I thought… Shikon no jutsu, used to temporarily restore a cadaver's heart beat and manipulate the corpse… he surgically altered the face… to make it resemble his own…! I'm amazed… he was so thorough in his deception that he even erased the dead body's odor… and he stilled his own heartbeat… disguising himself as one of the ANBU operatives he had killed… to allow his escape. The influence of his adoptive father – the chief of the medical corps – is obvious… in the way he enjoys trifling with corpses… his moves would put even the undertaker squad to shame… if such a talented person is working under Orochimaru, then…'_ "At this rate, I'll be obsolete soon, too…"

Forest of Death, tower, arena

"So… those are the basics. I would like to let all go now, but first… there's one last thing we must do for the finals." Hiruzen said.

"Hey, come on! I need to start training now!" Naruto yelled.

"Now then, don't be so impatient… there are slips of paper inside the box Anko is holding… each of you, take one." Hiruzen said.

"I'll come around, so line up, okay?" Anko said. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Um… Anko, they're already lined up!)**

She then walked over to Dosu who then put his hand into the box while Anko said "One per person!" After Dosu had taken up one of the paper slip, Anko went over to Naruto, then Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Shikamaru, Neji and finally Shino.

"All right… does everybody have one now…? Then… starting at the left, each of you read out the number written on your slip!" Hiruzen said as Ibiki prepared to write down their names on a small score-board that he was holding.

"I have 7." Dosu said.

"I got 1!" Naruto said.

"8" Temari said.

"5" Kankuro said.

"3" Gaara said.

"9" Shikamaru said.

"2" Neji said.

"6" Shino said.

"So Uchiha will be number 4…" Ibiki said.

"Good! And now I will reveal… the match order for the tournament-style finals!" Hiruzen said.

"So that's what the drawing was for?" Shikamaru yelled.

"Well, Ibiki, show them the pairings." Hiruzen said.

"Yes sir…" Ibiki said before he showed the Genin the score-board.

In the first battle Naruto would face Neji. In the second one, it would be Gaara vs Sasuke. The third bout would be Kankuro vs Shino and the fourth fight would be Temari vs Shikamaru with the winner facing Dosu.

'_My match comes late in the game…'_ Dosu thought.

'_What? The finals are a simple tournament…?'_ Temari thought.

'_Man, I've got to fight an extra round. And I don't want to have to avenge Choji… no thanks!'_ Shikamaru thought.

'_Sigh… I'm in a different bracket than Gaara… thank goodness.'_ Kankuro thought.

'_Uchiha… Sasuke…'_ Gaara thought.

'… _Perfect.'_ Neji thought, believing that it'd be an easy battle.

'_Hyuga Neji, right of the bat? I never dreamed of a better opponent!'_ Naruto thought.

"Now then… it's time for you to go plan your strategies, rest up, or whatever you please. We're all finished here… unless any of you have questions?" Hiruzen said and Shikamaru raised his hand.

"May I?" The Nara asked.

"Sure!" Hiruzen said.

"You said this is a tournament, so… there's only one winner, right…? Then… does that mean only one person gets to become a Chunin?" Shikamaru asked.

"No! That's not the case. For the finals, you will be observed by many judges… not only me, but… the Kazekage and the rulers and shinobi leaders of countries that will be requesting missions, as well. Based on your performance in the tournament, those judges will assign you an absolute value… and all those who are deemed to have sufficient ability to be a Chunin… even those who may have lost in the first round can become Chunin." Hiruzen explained.

"Do you mean… it's possible that all of us here could become Chunin?" Temari asked.

"Hai. However it is also possible… that none of you will become Chunin! The advantage of fighting in more rounds in the tournament is in having a greater number of opportunities to display your talents for the judges. Does that answer your question, Shikamaru?" Hiruzen said.

'_Geez… he didn't have to throw it back in my face…'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Well then, good work, all! You are dismissed until one month from now!" Hiruzen said.

'_My second round will be against either Gaara or Sasuke…?'_ Naruto thought before he looked towards Gaara while thinking '_He was strong enough to wipe the floor with Bushy-Brows, so…'_ He then thought back to what Sasuke had said before the prelims had started.

"Naruto… you're one of the ones that I want to fight!"

'_I'd better ask Kakashi-sensei for help… unless I can somehow find Zetsu-sensei that is… yeah, fat chance of that happening, he's always watching me, but I can't find him unless he wants me to.'_ Naruto thought.

'_Sasuke-kun… against that guy…'_ Sakura thought.

"Sakura-chan! Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"He's probably with Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said before running off.

Unknown location

In what appeared to be a dark room were to men talking. One of them had shaggy black hair, he had an X-shaped scar on his chin, he had bandages over most of the right side of his face, concealing his right eye and he also walked with a cane. He wore a white shirt with a black and grey robe over the top of it, covering from his feet to just over his right shoulder. He also appeared to be missing his right arm.

The other one was kneeling in front of him and wore a black hooded robe over his entire body and his face was hidden behind a mask which had the kanji for "ne" on it.

"I see, you may leave…" The man with the cane said and the other one shunshined away '_So, the Chosen One has made it to the third exams… and these abilities that he seems to possess could make him an ideal member of ROOT. I wonder how many seals he's been to yet.'_

Land of Fire/ Land of Rice Patties border, the Final Valley

A man with spiky black hair who wore a weird black armor and had his face hidden behind an orange swirly mask with a single eye-hole in it was sitting on top of the head of the statue of Uchiha Madara. Then, suddenly came Zetsu out of the ground behind him.

"How did it go?" The man asked.

"**It went mostly as expected, the Chosen One got through the first two exams."** Zetsu's black half said before his white half took over "But there were some unexpected turn of events."

"Such as…?" The man asked and Zetsu went on to tell the man about Orochimaru's attack and some more important details of the exams.

"I see, so Orochimaru has finally decided to show himself, has he?" The man said.

"What should we do, Tobi?" Zetsu asked.

"We sit back and wait, if there's a reason for us to become involved however, we will." The man, now identified as Tobi said.

"There's one more thing you should know." Zetsu said.

"And what's that?" Tobi asked.

"**It concerns the Hyuga heiress!"** Zetsu said.

"Let me hear it…!" Tobi said.

Chapter preview

Jiraiya "I am the most holy Sennin of Mount Myouboku toads, otherwise known as the Gama-Sennin. Pleased to meet ya!"

Gaara "A monster eh…? Actually… I've got one of those too. Just like you said, I wasn't "raised right"… In the process of my birth, I stole the life of the woman I was supposed to call "mother"… In order to create the world's strongest shinobi, my father used Ninjutsu to implant an incarnation of sand within my body… I was born a monster!"

Genma "All right then… match one, Uzumaki Naruto… and Hyuga Neji."

Neji "… Abilities and talent are determined at birth. In other words, your entire destiny is set from the time you're born."

Temari "How long are you gonna lie there? Get up, kid!"

Genma "Next time on Tales of Shippuden: Exam finals."

Shikamaru "That's it… I'm done… I give up!"

Character status

Naruto: Level: 10

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin, Demon Fang, Tiger Blade, Azure Edge, Kamiton: Kami shuriken, Kamiton: Kami kunai, Angel style: Angel Feathers jutsu.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Young Uzumaki, Jinchuriki, Genin, Full-Fledged Shinobi.

Sasuke: Level: 9

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin, Demon Fang, Tiger Blade, Fire Ball (can – so far – only be used while in Over-Limit), Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka Katon: Karyudan.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Titles: Uchiha, Genin, Avenger.

Sakura: Level: 6

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Pinkette, Genin, Strong Will.

Rock Lee: Level: 13

Techniques: Konoha Senpou, Kagebuyo, Konoha Reppu, Omote Renge, Ura Renge.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Bushy-Brows, Greatest Genin, Blue Beast, Genius Of Hard Work, A Splendid ninja.

Shikamaru: Level: 4

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kagemane, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Whining Fool.

Ino: Level: 6

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Shintenshin, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Fool For Sasuke.

Choji: Level: 5

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Baika, Nikudan Sensha, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai shuriken.

Titles: Fat Fool.

Kiba: Level: 10

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Shikyaku, Jujin Bunshin, Tsuuga, Gatsuuga.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Dog Lover.

Hinata: Level: 5

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Juken.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Shy Hyuga, I Never Go Back On My Word.

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan.

Neji: Level: 17

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Juken.

Weapons: kunai shuriken.

Titles: Hyuga prodigy.

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan.

Dosu: Level: 10

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kyomeisen.

Weapons: melody arm.

Zaku: Level: 5

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Zankuha, Zankukyokuha.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kin: Level: 4

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kage senbon.

Weapons: senbon.

Gaara: Level: 13

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Daisan no me, Suna no Tate, Suna no Yoroi, Sabaku Kyu, Sabaku Soso.

Weapons: none

Titles: Spook.

Orochimaru: Level: 35

Techniques: Doton: Kage Bunshin, Jagei Jubaku, Gogyo Fuin, Mandara no Jin, Sen'eijashu, Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Rashomon, Shoshagan, Futon: Daitoppa, Kanashibari, Sojasosai, Shoshagan, Juinjutsu.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken, Kusanagi.

**Kurama no Kyubi: **Phew… finally done! I knew this chapter would be long, but I never thought it'd be this long.

**Naruto:** Yeah, I'll say! It's 180 pages and 41.880 words.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** You're right, and my previous record on a chapter was 12.722 words. Heh… I didn't break my record… I annihilated it! … Anyway, I was planning to say this last chapter, but I forgot, I would like it if you readers could come up with suggestions for Mystic Artes for the Naruto cast, they won't be limited to just one Mystic Arte per person and some might also have combined Mystic Artes like Yuri's and Flynn's combined Mystic Arte in the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia, some combined Mystic Artes could also have three people using them.

**Hiruzen:** We've also already come up with a few Mystic Artes and would like your opinion on them… here they are:

**Naruto:** "I'll overwhelm you with numbers! Kage Bunshin no jutsu. U... ZU… MA… KI… Naruto 2K RASENGAN RENDAN! Never underestimate me!" I create 2.000 clones and we delivers bone-crushing punches and kicks any opponent close enough and we finishes it off with 2.000 Rasengans.

**Sasuke:** "I call upon 1.000 bolts of lightning to rain down on my enemies: GENJUTSU: INDIGNATION!" I use a Genjutsu that makes it look like a thousand bolts of lightning rains down, but there is a spot in the middle of the field were there aren't any lightning bolts coming down… however anyone that goes in there, will be hit by the invisible REAL lightning bolt which is much larger than the illusions.

**Kakashi:** "This will be your final humiliation! SENNEN GOROSHI!" Do I need say more?

**Minato:** "I call upon the lord of the underworld, the guardian of the dead! I summon thee, come, SHINIGAMI!" I summon the Summon Spirit of Death, Shinigami.

**Pain:** "This is the ultimate power of the Rinnegan: BIG BANG!" I use the power of the Rinnegan to create a massive explosion that destroys all of my enemies.

**Pain:** "Behold the power of gravity: CHIBAKU TENSEI!" I create a small black sphere and throw it up into the air before the sphere's intense gravity starts coming into effect and tears up the ground until a mini-moon has been created.

**Yagura:** "I call upon the unending tides to defeat my enemies: BIJUDAMA TSUNAMI! It's over!" I summon an enormous ball of water from the closest ocean. It works no matter where I am.

**Naruto/Colette:** "(Naruto) O rays of the sun, come down and lend us your power! (Colette) Angels of Cruxis, hear our call and lend us your aid! (both) This is it! LIGHT OF THE HEAVENS!" (Naruto) Me and Colette fly's in circles around the enemy before flying upwards, while still flying in circles. And when we're quite a distance above the ground, we send down a large ray of light which seems to come from the sun… this technique doesn't work during the night though… nor places where there aren't any light.

**Guy/Lee/Regal:** "(Guy) Lee, Regal-san, you ready? (Lee/Regal) Hai! (Guy) All right, then. There's no escape! (all) HACHIMON NO MAI!" (Guy) The three of us open some of the Hachimon, Lee open the Tomon and uses the Ura Renge, I open the Keimon and uses the Asakujaku and Regal-san open the Kyomon and uses the Hirudora before each of us delivers a final punch to our foes, or in Regal-san's case, a kick. This technique also takes care of any enemy in the vicinity.

**Kurama no Kyubi: **And that's that, please tell me what you think of these and also I were thinking that Ino, Shikamaru and Choji could have a triple Mystic Arte called INO-SHIKA-CHO, but I don't know how they will perform it yet. And I have also thought of giving the Akatsuki a Mystic Arte which requires all ten members to perform, but I don't even know what to call it, much-less how they're gonna perform it. Now I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and please review.


	6. Exam finals

**Tales of Shippuden**

**Chosen arc**

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Hello again, this'll probably be the last chapter in a while since I'll soon be concentrating on Naruto: the Legend of Aang. Now on to the reviews.

**JRZTimeTravel:** This story become more and more interesting, can I use your idea as an inspire. Thank by the way if you agree of course can't wait until next update

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Sure, I don't see why not!

**Naruto: **On with the story!

"Chosen One." Normal speech

'_Chosen One.'_ Normal thought

"**Chosen One." Biju, Angel and Summoning speech**

'_**Chosen One.'**_** Biju, Angel, inner Sakura and Summoning thought**

**Neji:** It's not Kurama no Kyubi's destiny to own Naruto or the Tales series.

Chapter 5: Exam finals

"Hey! Where's Sasuke's hospital room?" Naruto asked as he stood in front of a desk in the hospital.

"Visiting hours are over." A Medic behind the desk said and Naruto turned around disappointedly before he saw Kakashi coming out of a corridor.

"Oh! Kakashi-sensei! Hey! I need a favor!" Naruto said as he walked towards his sensei.

"Stop right there… I already know what you're about to ask, so… I've found someone to oversee your training." Kakashi said.

"Huh? I want you to train me, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said.

"I've got other things going on… I couldn't give you my full attention, but I found you an even better teacher than me." Kakashi said.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked.

"Me!" Said a voice from behind Naruto and the blond Chosen turned around.

"Huh! Hey, you're…" Standing there was none other than Sarutobi Asuma "Aren't you Shikamaru and Choji's sensei? Shouldn't you be training Shikamaru?"

"Yes and Shikamaru is being trained by his father. So Kakashi-san asked me to train you." Asuma said.

Training field 3 a.k.a memorial stone training field

"Alright Naruto, tell me, what techniques do you already know?" Asuma asked once they had reached the training field.

"Hmm… well, I know shunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, tree-walking, water-walking, Kage Bunshin and a few techniques I don't want to talk about." Naruto said.

"I see, well then I suppose that there's no need for me to teach you water-walking like I had originally planned." Asuma said before reaching into his pouch and pulling out two slips of paper.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto asked as he took one of them.

"They're chakra paper. If you channel your chakra into them, you'll find out what change in chakra nature you have." Asuma explained.

"Change in chakra nature…?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, you know Sasuke's Katon jutsus, right?" Asuma asked and Naruto nodded "Katon is one of the five main elements that you can use for Ninjutsu."

"Five main elements?" Naruto asked and Asuma nodded.

"There's Katon/fire, Futon/wind, Raiton/lightning, Doton/earth and Suiton/water. Each person is born with the affinity for at least one of these five elements. Of course there's also some who are born with two and they are able to combine those two elements into a different element." Asuma explained.

"Oh, you mean like Haku's Hyoton/ice!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Right, Hyoton comes from the combination of Futon and Suiton." Asuma said.

"But what about Gaara's sand? What's that the combination of?" Naruto asked.

"That's just a variation of Doton. Now watch closely!" Asuma said before he held up the paper slip and channeled chakra through it before it split in two "Futon, it splits, Raiton, it wrinkles, Doton, it turns to dust, Suiton, it gets damp and Katon, it burns to ashes."

Naruto then held up his chakra paper and channeled his chakra through it and they were both shocked when the paper started… glowing? Soon after the slip wrinkled, became damp, split in two, one half turned to dust while the other burned to ashes and the dust suddenly turned to ice.

"Okay… what just happened?" Naruto asked.

"It looks like you've got all five main elements." Asuma said, still shocked.

(Naruto received the title: Five Elements: One who can wield all five of the main elements.)

'_Must be because I'm the Chosen One. Hee hee, wait till I rub this into Sasuke's face.'_ Naruto thought.

"Well, I only have the affinity for Futon, but I do have Katon jutsus too. Those are the only two elements I can teach you, however." Asuma said.

During the first week, Asuma had Naruto train on mastering both wind change in chakra nature and fire change in chakra nature. To say that Asuma was surprised at Naruto's progress would be an understatement, from what he had heard of the blond, he thought he'd never get through the elemental training, but it just took him a day to split the leaf. The boy was a genius.

In the second week they concentrated on Futon and Katon jutsus and by the end of it, Naruto had learned three Futon jutsus, two Katon jutsus and he had also learned how to sharpen his kunai and shuriken as well as extending their range with Futon chakra. What Naruto didn't tell Asuma though was that he had managed to combine Katon with Kamiton (Origami) to create explosive paper kunai and shuriken.

On the first day of the third week, he decided to take a break from training for once and headed to the local hot spring to relax. When he got there however, he spotted a man with long white hair and a large scroll on his back who was peeping into the women's bath.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, you pervert?" Naruto asked, getting the man's attention as he turned around.

"Hey, go away. Shoo. You're interfering in my research." The man said.

"Research? Don't play dumb, I saw you peeping." Naruto said.

"It's the best way for me to come up with ideas for this book that I'm writing." The man said, pulling out an orange book.

"Hey! That's that dirty book Kakashi-sensei's always reading!" Naruto exclaimed.

"DIRTY? WHY YOU…!" The man yelled.

"Who the heck are you, anyway?" Naruto asked.

"I am the most holy Sennin of Mount Myouboku toads, otherwise known as the Gama-Sennin. Pleased to meet ya!" The man said as he did a weird pose.

(Jiraiya received the title: Gama-Sennin: He's the legendary Sennin from Mount Myouboku and a member of the legendary trio from Konoha known as the "legendary three Sannin")

"… Gama-Sennin…?" Naruto said before thinking '_That's Jiraiya of the legendary three Sannin? The one who trained tou-san? Maybe I could get him to train me.'_

"Now, would you mind leaving? I've got more research to do." The man, now identified as Jiraiya said.

"First, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked.

"What…?" Jiraiya asked.

"Would you mind training me for the third part of the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked.

"Don't be stupid gaki! I would never train a complete green-horn like yourself." Jiraiya said.

"A "green-horn", eh?" Naruto said before thinking '_If he's really the guy who taught tou-san, then he should know about this little trick!'_ Naruto then – to Jiraiya's shock – entered Over-Limit.

"Hey, how do you know about Over-Limit?" Jiraiya asked.

"Will you train me now?" Naruto asked.

"All right, I'll train you." Jiraiya said.

"ALRIGHT! Let's start tomorrow." Naruto exclaimed.

Konoha, near Kikyo Castle, later

Kabuto and Baki were standing in the shadows talking as Hayate listened in on their conversation.

"You know, if they discover that we're secretly meeting here, the plot to destroy Konoha and… everything else we've planned… it will all come to naught! I heard you were Orochimaru's right-hand man, but… nonchalantly coming to meet with me despite having been found out by Konoha… you are quite the fool." Baki said.

"Actually… truth be told… I wasn't found out. I deliberately revealed myself to them… I wanted to see what the reaction from Konoha would be… and even after that, I still have a plan to kidnap Sasuke." Kabuto said.

"You Oto ninja are the ones who proposed this scheme to us in the first place… but if you all continue with these blunders, we'll be forced to withdraw our support. Suna will not make our move until the very end. That is Kazekage-sama's will." Baki said.

'_What am I hearing…?'_ Hayate thought.

"This is the blueprint for all our plans." Kabuto said as he handed Baki a scroll "So… pass the information along soon… to your subordinates… please."

"Sure…" Baki said.

"Well, I'm done here…" Kabuto said.

'… _Our supposed ally, Sunagakure… is already in league with Oto…! I've got to let Hokage-sama know right away…!'_ Hayate thought before he moved to leave, but he made a small crunching sound, and the two enemy ninjas heard him.

"Oh… and one more thing… I'll take care of the cleanup… I'll find out who's on our tail and take care of him." Kabuto said.

"No… I'll do it… as a gesture of our allegiance. The least we Suna ninja can do is lend a helping hand. Besides… one little mouth… is no big deal." Baki said and Hayate knew that he'd been detected and both him and Baki shunshined up to a roof.

"Well, well… Proctor-san, why are you out here alone?" Baki asked as they both appeared on the roof.

"It seems I have no choice but to fight you. Cough." Hayate said as he got his katana while forming half a sign with his other hand.

"Konoha-Ryu: Mikazuki no Mai." Hayate called out the name of his technique and quickly moved towards Baki before hitting said Suna-nin in the right shoulder.

"This move… the Konoha-Ryu: Mikazuki no Mai? You've mastered it… at such a young age! Leave it to Konoha to have its players lined up…" Baki said as Hayate attempted to pull the sword out again, but he quickly found that he wasn't able to.

'_What…? I can't pull my blade out…'_ He thought.

"Your blade-work is brilliant… but it's a simple task to halt a physical blade. However…" Baki said before held out his arm whit the index, thumb and middle finger pointing up "… blades of wind are impossible to stop." Baki then made a slashing motion with his hand.

'_What the…?'_ Were Hayate's last thoughts.

Near a waterfall outside Konoha, the next day

There were some women bathing beneath a waterfall outside of the village and behind some bushes above the waterfall was Jiraiya staring down towards the women.

"Now… I'm going to instruct you in this move." The perverted Sennin said.

"Hey! C'mon! I'm over here! Eyes on me, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto yelled and Jiraiya turned around before walking over to him.

"All right! The move I'm about to teach you is the Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Jiraiya said.

"Kuchiyose?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya nodded.

"That's right! You make a binding blood-pact with an animal, and then you can use Ninjutsu to summon it to your side whenever you want! It's a type of Space-Time Ninjutsu!" Jiraiya said.

"Cool, show me!" Naruto exclaimed.

"All right." Jiraiya said before he bit his thumb and smirked it over the palm of his left hand. He then went through a few hand signs before he slammed his palm down on the ground while calling out "Kuchiyose no jutsu."

Suddenly a large 12-feet tall toad with a large scroll in his mouth appeared in a puff of smoke and he brought the scroll down to Naruto with his tongue. Naruto put the scroll down on the ground and un-rolled it.

"This contract with the summoning toads has been handed down through the generations. First you sign your name with your own blood, and then below that, you make a fingerprint impression with all your fingers of one hand! After that's done, when you're in a place where you want to call the toads, prepare your chakra, place the hand with witch you signed the contract palm-down on the ground, and make the following signs… i, inu, tori, saru, hitsuji." Jiraiya said before Naruto bit his thumb and signed his name on the contract before he made a fingerprint impression.

"All right! That's it?" Naruto asked when he was done.

"Now, have a go at it!" Jiraiya said.

"I'm on it!" Naruto said as he went through the hand signs and slammed the palm of his right hand down on the ground "Kuchiyose no jutsu." And in a puff of smoke appeared a small orange toad.

"**Huh? Hey, who're you?"** The toad asked as he looked up at Naruto.

(Naruto received the title: Summoner of Toads: Having made a pact with the toads of Mount Myouboku, he can summon them in times of need.)

'_The gaki's better than I thought, to summon Gamakichi on his first try.'_ Jiraiya thought.

Land of Wind, Suna, Kazekage tower, three days later

After Baki had killed Hayate, he had shown the plans to his team before leaving Konoha and heading for Suna. Three days later, he had reached his home village and immediately headed for the Kazekage tower to give the Yondaime Kazekage – Gaara's father – the plans.

"You have done well… good job, Baki." The Kazekage said.

"All three have safely advanced – as we intended – to the final rounds." Baki said.

"… Now… it truly begins… How is the pact with Oto coming…?" The Kazekage asked.

"Here is their plan of attack, sir." Baki said as he gave the scroll to the Kazekage.

"… Well then, I look forward to your work on the decisive day." The Kazekage said.

"… However, Kazekage-sama… since there are just four of us, including myself… could we not dispatch troops to the border with the Land of Fire under the guise of drills?" Baki asked.

"The Konoha ninja are no fools. Their ANBU teams are patrolling all over. If they notice any troop movement, our intentions will be transparent to them." One of the Kazekage's guards said before he held up a piece of paper "… As expected, the military presence being allowed into Konohagakure has been severely restricted. That is precisely why we sent Gaara and the others."

"Now then… go…" The Kazekage said.

"As you wish." Baki said before shunshining away to return to Konoha.

Land of Fire, Konoha

Naruto trained the rest of the week with the Kuchiyose no jutsu, and to say that Jiraiya was surprised when the blonde managed to summon Gamabunta – the chief of the toads – would be an understatement.

It was finally the last week of training before the finals and Jiraiya had a big surprise in store for the blond.

"Hey, Ero-Sennin! Where are we going?" Naruto asked as they walked away from the village.

"Somewhere with a lot of room, where no one will see us." Jiraiya said before they came into a clearing "Ah, perfect!"

"What are we doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Here, I'm going to teach you an A-ranked Ninjutsu, are you ready to learn it?" Jiraiya said.

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto exclaimed and Jiraiya smiled at his enthusiasm.

Konoha, hospital, a week later

Naruto had trained pretty hard and by the end of the week, he'd driven himself to exhaustion, so Jiraiya decided to bring the boy to Konoha's hospital to was just two more days till the finals would commence, so Naruto needed to get some rest.

When Naruto woke up the next day, he was surprised to find Shikamaru sitting next to his bed.

"Hey… you finally woke up…" Shikamaru said.

"… Where am I…?" Naruto asked.

"The hospital!" Shikamaru said.

"… Why am I here with you…? Where's Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? How should I know? I mean… I'm here because I came to visit Choji, even though it's a total drag… When I heard you were laid out too, I poked my head in." Shikamaru said.

"What? He got hurt that bad?" Naruto asked.

"Not quite… after his match, Choji ate too much barbecue… and got a severe case of indigestion." Shikamaru said and Naruto laughed.

"That's just like Choji!" He said.

"Hmm… you two aren't the type to get female visitors, so… Oh, right! It's a huge drag… I bought this fruit basket for Choji, but he's not allowed to have it, doctors' orders. So let's eat it ourselves." Shikamaru said as he put a fruit basket on the hospital bed.

"Cool! You sure?" Naruto asked and Shikamaru nodded "Man! You're a pretty good guy!"

"Shut up! It would just be a shame to let it go to waste." Shikamaru said before Naruto suddenly looked up "Huh? What?"

"I'm getting a bad feeling." Naruto said.

Konoha hospital, Lee's room

Lee was sleeping in his bed in the Konoha hospital. On the nightstand by the bed was a flower that Sakura had brought him. Suddenly the door opened and Gaara walked in before feeling an intense headache as he remembered that Guy had saved the boy.

'… _Why…?'_ He wondered before the headache subsided and he walked towards Lee and reached towards the boy's head as sand came out of his gourd and started going over Lee's body, but just before he could clench his hand, he found that he couldn't move

'… _I can't… move…'_ He thought just before Naruto punched him.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled.

"… Hey, Naruto… Don't forget, while I've got the Kagemane thing going, anything you do to him, I feel it too!" Shikamaru said. **(Kurama no Kyubi: Yet he wasn't affected by the way he knocked-out Kin. Plus I've seen people that he had gotten under the Kagemane getting hit yet he was perfectly fine… several times!)**

"Sorry, Shikamaru…!" Naruto said before glaring at Gaara "What the heck are you trying to pull? What were you trying to do to Bushy-Brows?"

"I wanted to kill him…" Gaara stated calmly.

"What…?" Naruto said.

'_How can he be so calm? He should be paralyzed by my Kagemane, but…'_ Shikamaru thought before asking "And why would you want to do that?" You won your match against him! Do you have a personal vendetta or something?"

"No, nothing like that. I want to kill him because… I just want to kill him." Gaara said.

"Do you even know what the heck you're saying? Do you?" Naruto yelled.

"You really weren't raised right, were you? You're so self-centered…" Shikamaru said before thinking _'Actually, he's really creepy…! I've got goose-bumps…! If he decides to go for it, he may be too much for Naruto and me to handle alone… geez… What do we do…?'_

"If you try to interfere, I'll kill you too." Gaara said.

(Gaara received the title: I'll Kill You: He don't care who you are, if you're strong, he'll kill you!)

"What? Just try it…!" Naruto yelled.

"Hey! Quit it, Naruto!" Shikamaru said before thinking _'… Let's see if I can pull one over on him…'_ "I've seen you fight…I know you're strong. But you see… Naruto and me, we're both pretty capable fighters, too. We both still have moves in reserve that nobody's seen yet! Plus, it'll be two against one. So you'll ba at a disadvantage. But if you swear to leave Lee alone… we'll let you leave. No harm done!"

"I'll say this once more… If you keep interfering, I'll kill you." Gaara said.

'_Th-this guy…'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Oh, yeah? Just try it. I think you'll find us more than a match for you! You may have monster-like strength, but I've got a real live monster inside of me!" Naruto said.

"A monster eh…? Actually… I've got one of those too. Just like you said, I wasn't "raised right"… In the process of my birth, I stole the life of the woman I was supposed to call "mother"… In order to create the world's strongest shinobi, my father used Ninjutsu to implant an incarnation of sand within my body… I was born a monster!" Gaara said.

'… _An incarnation of sand…?'_ Shikamaru thought.

"Known as Shukaku, it was the spirit of a former Sunagakure elder… that had been sealed inside a teakettle." Gaara said.

"A type of possession art that causes a fetus to be forcibly possessed…? To go that far… that's crazy." Shikamaru said.

'… _He's got… something… inside of him, too…'_ Naruto thought.

"Heh… What kind of parent does a thing like that? What twisted love." Shikamaru said.

"Love? … Don't judge me by your standards… "Family"… Let me tell you what that word means to me. Mere hulls of flesh… connected by hatred and murderous intent. My mother's life was sacrificed… so that I could be brought to life as the village's greatest masterpiece… and as Kazekage's son. My father taught me secret shinobi skills, one after another. I was raised in isolation, spoiled and over-protected… at first I thought _that_ was love… until the incident." Gaara said.

"… What incident…?" Shikamaru asked.

"What are you talking about? What the heck happened?" Naruto asked as Gaara started smiling a sadistic smile.

"For the past six years… ever since I turned six… my father has been trying to assassinate me. I've lost count of how many attempts he's made…" Gaara said.

"What? But you said your father spoiled you… so what do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"A presence that is too powerful becomes a presence that is feared. Having been born through jutsu… my mind is unstable… It seems the fools of the village finally realized I had emotional issues… To my father – in his role as Kazekage – I was the village's most powerful weapon… but at the same time, I was a fearsome and dangerous object… So apparently, when I turned six… they determined that I was too great a liability. Prior to that, I had merely been handled with care… like any other hazardous instrument. To them, I am now a relic of the past that they wish to erase and forget. So… for what purpose do I exist? Why am I alive? At first, when I asked myself that, I had no answer. But while I continue to live, I need a _reason_. Otherwise… I might as well be dead." Gaara said.

"What is he talking about…?" Shikamaru muttered to himself.

'… _I think I… I get it… this guy… he's just like me…'_ Naruto thought.

"So this is what I came up with… "I exist to kill all humans other than myself." Living in constant fear, knowing I might be assassinated at any moment, I finally found inner peace. By killing those who sought to kill me… I was able to discern a reason for living and justify my own existence. I would fight only for myself and love only myself. If all other people exist to magnify that love, then there is no more splendid world than this one. They allow me to experience the joy of living… For as long as there are people out there for me to kill… then I will not cease to exist." Gaara said.

'_Wh-what the…? This is scary…?'_ Shikamaru thought.

'… _I used to be like that too, all alone… Not knowing why I was alive… in pain… but then Iruka-sensei finally noticed me… acknowledged me… and for the first time, I experienced warmth and love. But this guy… he's still living all alone… only able to assert his existence by killing others… I never knew people like him existed… The world that he lives in… it's too different from ours…! There's just no way…. That we can win against him…'_ Naruto thought as he started trembling in fear.

"What's the matter, Naruto…?" Shikamaru asked just before Gaara's sand came to life as Shikamaru reached his limit.

"… Now… help me feel alive!" Gaara said before Guy suddenly entered the room and caught everyone's attention.

"The finals start tomorrow. Don't be in such a hurry… unless you're eager to become an inpatient today?" He said just before Gaara got a headache and walked to the door.

"I will kill you all… just you wait." He said before walking out.

The next day

The delegates from the different lands came in through the gates of Konohagakure no sato as Hiruzen looked down upon them from atop the walls of the village.

"And so it begins…" He said.

Konoha stadium

Later, everyone were in the stadium where the finals would take place. As Naruto entered the battle-ground where the applicants would be fighting, he noticed that Shikamaru, Neji, Shino, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari and Dosu were already there, but Sasuke still hadn't showed up.

"… Sasuke-kun's still not here…" Ino said from here place in the stands.

'_Where the heck is Sasuke?'_ Naruto wondered as he looked around.

"Hey! Stop fidgeting! Stand still and face forward, towards the guests… for all of you are the stars of these finals!" The new exam proctor, Genma said.

'_What the…? What happened to Hayate-sensei?'_ Naruto wondered.

Kage block

"Sasuke is still nowhere to be found?" Hiruzen asked his bodyguard, Raido.

"We still have several ANBU teams out searching for him, but… there's no trace…" Raido said before leaning in towards Hiruzen's ear and whispering "He may already be in Orochimaru's clutches… If that's the case, we might never find him…"

"… Understood." Hiruzen said before he noticed that the Kazekage came into the Kage block "Ah… Well, well… Kazekage-dono!"

Stands, Sakura and Ino

"I know you're worried about Sasuke-kun, but… either way, Naruto's match is first, so why don't you stop fretting… and cheer him on?" Ino told Sakura who was sitting next to her.

"… Yeah…!" Sakura said.

Kage block

"You must be tired from your long journey." Hiruzen said.

"Oh no… I'm happy to make the trip. Of course, your still hale and hearty… but the voyage might have been a bit harder on you, Hokage-dono. Perhaps you ought to choose your successor soon…" The Kazekage said.

"… Ha ha… Well, don't bury me yet! I hope to continue here… for another five years, at least. Well then, we ought to begin…" Hiruzen said as he stood up to speak to the whole crowd "Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests… welcome and heartfelt thanks for gathering here in Konohagakure for the Chunin examination! We will now begin the matches of the final round between the nine candidates who advanced in the preliminaries. Please sit back and enjoy!"

Arena

"Hey! Hey!" Naruto said as Genma turned around.

"What?" He asked.

"Sasuke's not here yet, so what's gonna happen?" Naruto asked.

"If he doesn't arrive by the start of his own match, he'll lose by forfeit!" Genma said.

'_Hm! This is weird… knowing Sasuke, I figured he'd be here even if he'd have to crawl…'_ Naruto thought as Gaara thought back to something that happened a few weeks ago.

Flashback

Gaara was hiding behind a large rock as he used his third-eye to spy on Kakashi and Sasuke who were training.

"Once more, Sasuke… Here I come!" Kakashi said as Gaara's hand slowly clenched itself.

Flashback end

In the stands were Baki sitting, looking down on Gaara as he recalled when Gaara left their room at the inn for a few hours a few weeks back.

Flashback

"… Where do you think you're going?" Baki asked as Gaara walked towards the door.

"… To verify my existence." Was Gaara's reply.

Flashback end

'… _Don't tell me… even after I told him how important it was to avoid attracting any attention… he better not have killed him…'_ The Suna Jonin thought.

Arena

"Listen up, all of you. This is the last exam. The landscape may be different, but just as with the prelims, there are no set rules. You fight until one of you dies or admits defeat… unless I determine that a clear winner has already been decided, in which case… I'll stop the match before anyone's killed. Understand?" Genma said and after a few seconds wait he continued by saying "All right then… match one, Uzumaki Naruto… and Hyuga Neji. You two, stand down here… the rest of you, proceed to the waiting room outside the arena!"

Naruto and Neji stayed there while facing eachother as the others walked out of the arena.

Stands, Kiba and Hinata

Kiba and Hinata came up to the stands to find that almost all the seats had been taken and Kiba walked down to see if he could find two empty seats and he did.

"Hey Hinata, there are two seats over here!" He said.

"A-arigato." Hinata said before she walked down and they both sat down as Akamaru was sitting on Kiba's shoulder.

"This'll be quite a show!" Kiba said.

'… _Naruto-kun…'_ Hinata thought.

Stands, Sakura and Ino

"… But against Neji, Naruto hasn't got a chance…" Ino said.

Stands, Kiba and Hinata

"… I never imagined that scamp would last so long…" Kotetsu – who was sitting next to Hinata – said.

"Hmm… But all the ones who were hanging on through luck alone… have been eliminated by now. And this Naruto kid… he drew a tough opponent. Against a member of the Hyuga clan, he's got absolutely no chance at all." Izumo said.

'_Well… that's what I used to think, too… but… if you underestimate him, you're in for a big surprise!'_ Kiba thought before Akamaru licked his cheek to get his attention "What is it, Akamaru?" Kiba asked and Akamaru let out quite barks "What…? Where…?" Kiba asked as he started to look around before he spotted a man in a white robe, wearing a mask '_… Over there…! Why the heck are there ANBU agents here? … Is something big about to happen…?'_

Arena

"You got something to say…?" Neji asked and Naruto held out his arm with his hand clenched into a fist.

"I've said this once before… I vow to win!" Naruto said and Neji activated his Byakugan.

'… _He has absolute faith in himself… as if he hasn't got a single doubt…'_ Neji thought.

"Now then… match one… begin!" Genma said and Neji assumed the Juken stance.

"Ho ho… it's more fun this way anyway… I can't wait to see the despair in your eyes… what the truth finally dawns on you…" He said.

"Quit yapping… let's fight!" Naruto yelled.

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

In the stands were the head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi and his youngest daughter, Hyuga Hanabi sitting.

"The Hyuga blood flows thicker in his veins than in anyone else's… watch closely, Hanabi." Hiashi said.

"Hai… tou-san." Hanabi said.

Arena

'_If I get too close to him, he'll press my Tenketsu and I won't be able to use any jutsu… so I've got to fight him from a distance…'_ Naruto thought before he made the Kage Bunshin hand sign "Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Suddenly four copies of the blond appeared and each of the five of them pulled out a kunai.

Stands, Sakura and Ino

'_Good thinking, Naruto! Kage Bunshins are ideal…'_ Sakura thought.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

"Heh… he's a quirky kid." Kotetsu said.

"… Kage Bunshin is a Jonin-level jutsu. I'm surprised that he can pull off something so advanced…" Izumo said.

"This is gonna be interesting…" Kotetsu said.

Arena

'… _Kage Bunshins? I see… since his chakra is equally and evenly distributed among all of the Bunshins… even my Byakugan won't be able to determine which of the bodies is the genuine article.'_ Neji thought before saying "But… in the end, there is only one actual body."

"Heh… don't be too confident!" Naruto said.

"Then come at me… if you dare…" Neji said.

Stands, Tenten

'… _It's useless… Neji's defense is perfect…'_ Tenten thought.

Arena

"Hey!" One of the clones said "Don't…" Another one said "… underestimate…" The third one said "… me, okay?" The fourth and final clone said before all four of them charged at Neji, but he leaped into the air as he flipped and tapped the back of the heads of two of the clones, making them fall forward.

"Over there!" One of the other two clones yelled as he and the fourth clone moved towards Neji, hoping to hit him before he could reach the ground. But the Hyuga spun in mid-air before kicking them away.

The other two clones then charged at him from behind, but he grabbed their wrists before elbowing them in the chin and turning around before delivering a palm strike to their stomachs, making them puff into smoke.

"… You want to be Hokage, huh? I don't think that's gonna happen. I can pretty much tell, with these eyes of mine…abilities and talent are determined at birth. In other words, your entire destiny is set from the time you're born." Neji said.

"Why are you so stubborn? You're always so sure that the future is full of doom and gloom… why?" Naruto yelled.

"Well… are you saying that anyone can become Hokage… if they just try hard enough? Only a select few shinobi are even considered for Hokage. Wake up and face reality! Those who will become Hokage are born with that fate. You can't get there by trying… you have to be preselected. Each person's life consists only of being swept along in the inescapable current of his destiny… All of us… have only one thing in common… one shared fate… death." Neji said.

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

'… _Those eyes… his grudge against the family's main branch is still strong…'_ Hiashi thought.

Arena

"Well… so what? I guess I'm just a sore loser!" Naruto yelled before he pulled out a kunai and charged at Neji.

"A frontal attack? Do you want to lose this badly?" Neji asked.

"Hm! I told you… you shouldn't make assumptions about the future!" Naruto yelled.

Stands, Sakura and Ino

"What's that baka think he's doing? Attacking Neji head-on like that?" Ino asked.

"I don't know…" Sakura said before thinking '_He's got to have a plan though…'_

Konoha, outside the stadium

Kabuto was sitting in a crouched position over a dead ANBU agent on the branch of a tree.

'_I hope you can at least give me a good show, Chosen-kun…'_ He thought as he removed the ANBU's mask before putting it on while saying "I've got quite a tough job ahead of me…"

Arena

As Naruto approached Neji, the Hyuga struck forward with a palm strike, but he noticed that Naruto's ring seemed to glow for a second and the blond vanished, but then Neji struck with a palm strike to his left and suddenly, Naruto was sent skidding backwards.

"What…? How…?" He asked.

"I over-heard you when you told the Oto-nins that that ring of yours can slow down time, so I've been training to hone my Byakugan to be able to track even the fastest moving objects." Neji explained.

"I… see." Naruto said before making the tora sign "In that case, I suppose I could show you this ring's _other_ ability!"

'_Other ability…?'_ Neji thought before he noticed that the stone on the ring turned red and Naruto pointed it towards him.

"Now, let's see how you like this." Naruto said before a large fireball suddenly shot out of the ring and headed towards Neji. The Hyuga managed to dodge the ball of heated oxygen before he charged at Naruto and managed to hit his one of his Tenketsu.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said.

"That's it… he's done for…" Kotetsu said.

Arena

"… I told you it was useless." Neji said as he took a couple of steps back.

"Heh… heh heh… A-and… I told you… not to make so many assumptions!" Naruto said before he puffed away into smoke.

"… It can't be!" Neji said as he turned around and he saw that the smoke that came from where the fireball had impacted faded to reveal Naruto, holding his kunai up towards the sky.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

"All right! Go, Naruto!" Kiba cheered.

"Naruto-kun…!" Hinata said.

Arena

'_He was inside the fireball, but how? And when could he have made that Bunshin?'_ Neji thought before he remembered when Naruto slowed down time '_Ah! How couldn't I have noticed it? He must've made that Bunshin while he had slowed down time!'_

"From the start… I came into this match fully prepared to lose!" Naruto yelled before he swung the kunai downwards "Demon Fang!"

A crescent-shaped wave of energy suddenly flew out of the kunai and went straight for Neji, but the Hyuga jumped to his left to dodge it. However then Naruto suddenly appeared under him and swung the kunai upwards.

"Tiger Blade." The blond Chosen called out as he jumped into the air, bringing Neji with him before – at the peak of his jump – he swung the kunai downwards and as Naruto landed on his feet, Neji landed in a crouched position in front of him.

The Hyuga then lashed out with a palm strike, but Naruto vanished and Neji kicked to his right, sending the blond skidding backwards.

"Won't you ever learn? Slowing down time around you isn't gonna help you here." Neji stated before Naruto went through a few hand signs.

"Kamiton: Kami shuriken no jutsu." Naruto said before pieces of his palms seemed to rip themselves off as they turned into paper and folded themselves into shuriken '_And then adding in some Katon chakra.'_

Each of the two shuriken then started burning and Naruto threw them towards Neji who jumped out of the way just before the shuriken could hit him, but when they hit the ground, they suddenly blew up.

Stands, Asuma and Kurenai

'_Hmmm… Infusing Katon chakra into those paper shuriken to turn them into explosive tags… not a bad idea.'_ Asuma thought as he observed the battle.

Arena

'_So, he's got a fire affinity… well too bad that I can easily dodge any Katon jutsus he may have.'_ Neji thought.

Naruto then charged at Neji with his kunai as he channeled Futon chakra through it.

'_Attacking head-on like this again…? You're really a one-trick pony aren't you?'_ Neji thought before he got ready to counter the kunai, but then he noticed something '_Wait, there's chakra surrounding the kunai… Futon chakra?'_

As Naruto approached Neji, he swung his kunai, but it didn't even get through the Hyuga's clothes and then he noticed that the Hyuga was actually spinning at an incredible speed and Naruto was thrown backwards.

'_Wh-what the heck just happened?'_ He thought.

"You thought… you had me beat?" Neji asked.

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

'… _Unbelievable…'_ Hiashi thought.

Stands, Sakura and Ino

"What's going on? I know Naruto hit him with that kunai!" Sakura said.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

'… _That's…!'_ Hinata thought.

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

'… _Kaiten…!'_ Hiashi thought.

Stands, Tenten

'_That's Neji's defense… The visual range of Neji's Byakugan is almost a full 360 degrees… in other words, he can pretty much see a full circle around him… and with that same all-seeing eye, he can anticipate all of his opponent's attacks… From now on, Neji will be shielded within the Hakkesho Kaiten! The instant before an attack reaches him, he emits a large amount of chakra from the Tenketsu all over his body… halting the enemy's attack with a cocoon of chakra. And then he moves his body in a circle like a spinning top… repelling and reflecting the attack! Normally, chakra that is emitted from the Tenketsu is difficult to control. Even Jonin can usually only utilize such chakra from a single body-part at a time, like hands or feet… But Neji – a master of the Juken – can emit chakra from his entire body… and with that emitted power alone, can physically block attacks… You could consider it another kind of absolute defense… that's even more powerful than Gaara's!'_ Tenten thought. **(Kurama no Kyubi: And how does she know of Gaara's ultimate defense? She wasn't there!)**

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

"… Th-that's your…" Hanabi said.

"The Kaiten is a secret art that is passed down only within the Hyuga main branch… taught by the head of the family to the heir alone…" Hiashi said before thinking '_But Neji was able to independently recreate it on his own…! … His brilliance is far beyond what I had ever imagined…'_

Stands, Tenten

'_And that's not the end of it! Neji's true show of strength is only beginning…'_ Tenten thought.

Arena

"Man!" Naruto said as he stood back up "Well, if that didn't work, then how about this?" He then went through several hand signs.

"Futon: Kamikaze no jutsu." He then blew a huge gust of wind towards Neji, and the Hyuga was sent flying into the wall.

"Hmm… I see, your affinity isn't fire after all, but wind." Neji said as he got up on his feet before charging at Naruto.

When Neji approached the blond, he struck with a palm strike, but just before he could hit, he was sent skidding a few feet backwards by a powerful shockwave that came out of Naruto's body as said blond entered Over-Limit.

'_Over-Limit! I've got to finish this!'_ Neji thought before assuming a new stance "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

'_That stance… it can't be…!'_ Hiashi thought.

Arena

Neji then delivered 2 consecutive strikes to Naruto's Tenketsu, followed by 4 consecutive strikes then 8 and 16 and 32 and finally 64 consecutive strikes.

Everyone was surprised however when Naruto hadn't even budged from where he was standing and Neji looked up and his eyes widened when he saw Naruto's smirk, and he realized that his attacks hadn't done any damage to the blond's Tenketsu.

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

'_A member of the cadet branch… has surpassed the main branch entirely. He truly is… a formidable natural talent… So the divine shinobi blood of the Hyuga clan resides in a child of the cadet branch who can never become heir…? Oh, Hizashi… perhaps you will bring down the house of Hyuga after all…'_ Hiashi thought.

Arena

"How…?" Neji asked before he jumped back, away from Naruto.

"The Over-Limit aura can act as a shield to absorb most of the damage from an attack. And your Juken won't even be able to get through it." The blond explained.

'_Not good… while he's like this, he can use jutsus without worrying about chakra depletion and he won't need hand signs either.' _Neji thought.

"Neji, I'm curios… why do you hate Hinata so much that you wanted to kill her?" Naruto asked.

"Very well… I'll tell you… about the hateful legacy of the Hyuga clan!" Neji said before thinking '_If I tell him, it would by me time and he will be forced out of Over-limit.'_ "There's a secret birthright Ninjutsu passed down… in the Hyuga main branch. It's… a curse mark jutsu."

"A curse mark jutsu…?" Naruto asked.

"This curse mark represents a "caged bird"… And… it is proof that some people are bound by to destinies from which they cannot escape!" Neji said before taking off his Hitai-ate.

"Wh-what the…?" Naruto said, on Neji's forehead was a manji symbol.

"… Th-that's the mark…?" Naruto asked.

Neji then proceeded to tell Naruto about how 9 years ago, Kumo had signed a pact of alliance with Konoha. And one night shortly after, Hinata had nearly been kidnapped, but the kidnapper was quickly dealt with by Hiashi. The kidnapper was none other than the shinobi ruler of Kumo, and afterwards Kumo wanted Hiashi head and Konoha accepted, but instead of giving them Hiashi, they had sent Neji's father, Hizashi.

"Your fate is to lose to me. That's a fact." Neji said.

"You can't know that for sure until we try!" Naruto said as Neji put on his Hitai-ate "I can't even imagine how much pain you felt when your father was killed, but… I think you're wrong to conclude that everyone's destinies are predetermined!"

"You're hopeless…" Neji said as he noticed that the aura around the blond vanished and he rushed at him, before striking him with a palm strike and Naruto was sent flying backwards before hitting the ground hard.

"Proctor… we're finished here." Neji said before turning around to leave as he said "Hm…What a failure…"

"… D-don't you turn your back…" Neji turned around to see Naruto climbing back up on his feet "I won't run away… I never… go back on my word…"

"Heh… I think I've heard that line before…" Neji said.

"I refuse to be defeated by a coward like you… I won't lose to someone who believes in resigning himself to fate…!" Naruto said.

"What a joke… Stop trying to lecture all of us, as if you know anything! Everyone is born shouldering a destiny that cannot be defied." Neji said before recalling something his father had said to him.

"Neji… you… more than anyone else, you've been blessed with the genius of the Hyuga clan… I wish you could have been born into the main branch…"

"How could you understand anything about my fate… about bearing an indelible, inescapable curse?" The Hyuga prodigy yelled.

"You… have no idea what you're talking about!" Naruto said as his eyes suddenly became slitted crimson "Heh… you should feel honored, I just decided to finish you off with my strongest jutsu."

Suddenly chakra appeared to form in Naruto's right hand as it started spiraling in all directions and formed a perfect, blue sphere, and every adult from Konoha in the stadium was surprised, they had seen that jutsu being performed before… by the Yellow Flash.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

"Hey! What jutsu is that?" Kiba asked no one in particular.

"That kid's just full of surprises. If I'm not mistaking, that's the Rasengan, a jutsu created by the Yondaime." Kotetsu said, surprising Kiba and Hinata.

Stands, Asuma and Kurenai

"Since when could Naruto do the Rasengan?" Kurenai asked.

"Hmm… well, Jiraiya-sama did take over Naruto's training after two weeks, so I suppose he must've taught the kid." Asuma said.

Stands, Hiashi and Hanabi

'_Rasengan…? If the kid knows that then the battle's already decided, there's no way Neji can defend himself against that, not even with the Kaiten.'_ Hiashi thought.

Kage block

'_Rasengan, eh? So that's what you taught him, Jiraiya?'_ Hiruzen thought.

Arena

"Heh, you think that'll work? You can't change your fate." Neji said confidently.

"Oh yeah? Well, I won't know till I try!" Naruto said before charging at Neji.

"It's useless." The Hyuga said, and just before Naruto reached him, he started spinning "Kaiten."

"RASENGAN!" Naruto called out as he thrusted his arm forward and hit Neji's "ultimate defense".

Stands, Tenten

'_It's useless! When Neji does his Kaiten, he spins around in a circle, blocking and repelling his opponent's chakra!'_ Tenten thought.

Arena

Suddenly there was a huge explosion and Naruto came skidding out of the dust cloud that had formed, but when the cloud cleared, Neji weren't anywhere to be seen and Naruto smirked.

"It's over!" He said and everyone noticed Neji who had been imbedded in the wall, face-first, and upside-down.

"The winner is… Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma said and everyone cheered as Naruto ran towards the stairs that led up to where the other applicants were while some medics came running to get Neji.

Kage block

"Ho ho… the crowd is astir!" The Kazekage said.

"Yes, it was a rousing battle…" Hiruzen said.

"… No… I believe their excitement is more in anticipation of the next fight… For all of the curious shinobi rulers and lords… no other match is more highly anticipated! By the way… has he arrived yet…?" The Kazekage asked and Raido leaned in to Hiruzen's ear.

"That's the thing… we still haven't had any news of Sasuke… Considering Orochimaru's involvement… perhaps it would be better to announce a forfeit now… before the crowd becomes rowdy…" He whispered.

Stands

"What's going on? Hurry up and start the next match!" A man yelled.

"How long are you gonna make us wait, huh?" Another one yelled.

Stands, Sakura and Ino

"What is going on? Is Sasuke-kun not here yet?" Ino asked.

'… _Sasuke-kun…'_ Sakura thought.

Applicant box

"What could he be doing? Is he not coming at all?" Shikamaru asked.

""The wise man does not court danger"… a prudent decision…" Shino said.

"… What are you guys talking about…? Of course he'll come… no doubt about it!" Naruto said before thinking _'… but… where the heck are you…? If you don't show up soon… you'll be disqualified!'_

Kage block

"There's no other choice… as the rules dictate… Sasuke will be eliminated by forfeit!" Hiruzen said.

Applicant box

"… Ugh… What are we gonna do? Without him, our plan is ruined…" Kankuro said quietly.

"This is starting to look bad…" Temari said.

Stands, Baki

'_Ugh… don't tell me…'_ Baki thought as he thought back to what Gaara had said.

"I'm going… to verify my existence."

'_Man…. I can't believe it… I really hope Gaara didn't kill the boy…'_ He thought as Gaara recalled when he had spied on Kakashi and Sasuke training.

Flashback

"Once more, Sasuke…" Kakashi said before he noticed something.

"… What is it?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi looked towards the large rock that Gaara was hiding behind.

"I know you're there… the bloodlust is radiating off you. Why don't you come on out…?" Kakashi said and Gaara came out from behind the rock "It's you…?"

Flashback end

"… Hokage-dono… I ask you to stay the declaration of Uchiha Sasuke's forfeit just a bit longer." The Kazekage said.

"Forgive me, but… no matter what their level of brilliance… shinobi who lack punctuality are not competent to become Chunin. Unless we can provide a clear-cut explanation to satsfy the shinobi rulers and lords gathered here. I know of no such reason why we should wait for him." Raido explained.

"I see… But… there is sufficient reason… A majority of the shinobi rulers and lords here – including myself – came here almost solely to observe that match." The Kazekage said.

"… But…" Raido said.

"This boy is the last of the Uchiha clan… and as leader of the Land of Wind, I beseech you… to allow him to face Gaara." The Kazekage said.

"… Sir?" Raido asked as he looked at the aged Hokage.

'_Sasuke may never show up, but… there's nothing I can do.'_ Hiruzen thought before saying "Very well… we'll postpone the match… to wait for Sasuke."

"Hokage-sama! Are you sure?" Raido asked.

"Inform the proctor…" Hiruzen said.

"… yes, sir." Raido said in defeat before shunshining away.

"Well, Kazekage-dono… you are rarely so insistent! I must say I'm surprised…" Hiruzen said.

"Why is that…? If our aim is to show all these potential clients the quality of our village's shinobi… there can be no better opponent than Uchiha. How could I pass up such a wonderful opportunity…?" The Kazekage said.

Arena

"Okay…" Genma said as Raido had just finished explaining and he turned to the crowd before saying "Everyone! One of the contenders for the match has not arrived yet. So… this match will be postponed… and we will proceed with the next scheduled match!"

Stands, Asuma and Kurenai

"What the heck could Sasuke be up to…?" Asuma asked no one in particular.

Stands, Sakura and Ino

"All right! Sasuke-kun won't be forced to forfeit!" Ino exclaimed.

Applicant box

'_That's a relief!'_ Naruto thought as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey! You mean my match has been moved up?" Shikamaru yelled.

Arena

"Well then… the next pairing is Kankuro against Aburame Shino. Please come down!" Genma said.

Applicant box

'_This match is utterly trivial, and – more importantly – if I reveal Crow's "hidden mechanisms" to the enemy so soon, it might jeopardize the plan!'_ Kankuro thought before looking at Temari and he looked down towards Genma and said "… I withdraw!"

Temari then got her fan off her back, unfolded it and waved it, creating a gust of wind. She then jumped on top of the fan and sailed down towards the ground.

Arena

**(Kurama no Kyubi: I'll just skip this battle, entirely. It's mostly canon anyway, so I'll leave that whole thing of how Temari gets trapped in Shikamaru's shadow – since there aren't any holes in the ground he can use – entirely up to your imagination, and if you'd like, you could even write a fanfic about how the battle goes.)**

Shikamaru and Temari – who had been trapped in Shikamaru's shadow – walked towards eachother before stopping.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

'_Before they knew it, the whole crowd got wrapped up in the match…'_ Kotetsu thought.

'_This kid who hadn't made an impression on anyone ends up being a total dark horse…'_ Izumo thought.

Stands, Sakura, Ino and Choji **(Kurama no Kyubi: Choji showed up near the start of the match.)**

"Go for it!" Ino yelled.

Arena

Shikamaru then raised his arm into the air, forcing Temari to do the same and he said "That's it… I'm done… I give up!"

Stands, Sakura, Ino and Choji

"Huh? What the heck did you say?" Ino said surprised.

"I told you he was gonna quit… you really don't know anything about Shikamaru, do you?" Choji said as he continued to eat his chips.

Arena

"Wh-what?" Temari asked.

"I used up too much chakra doing all those Kagemane in succession… I won't be able to hold you for more than about 10 seconds. So even though I've planned out around 200 more moves… I think I'm out of time. And this fighting stuff is getting to be a drag… one match is enough for me." Shikamaru said.

'_What a weird kid…'_ Genma thought before saying "The winner is… Temari!"

Shikamaru's shadow then detached itself from Temari's and it retracted back to Shikamaru as he said "Aw man, I'm beat…"

Stands, Sakura, Ino and Choji

"Argh! What a waste. Why…? He could have become a Chunin!" Ino said.

"Shikamaru's Shikamaru." Choji said.

Stands, Asuma and Kurenai

"Sheesh… does he have any will to fight…?" Kurenai asked.

"I really don't know… It's a mystery." Asuma said.

'_And yet, that kid's knowledge and strategy are already definitely beyond Genin level… if this had been an actual mission with him as a member of a basic 4-man platoon, Shikamaru's victory would have been assured when he captured Temari. It's a case of winning the battle, but losing the match._' Kurenai thought.

'_It's disappointing that he doesn't seem eager to fight, but… you could say that it's because he has the ability to coolly analyze any and all situations. Because he is thoroughly aware of his own knowledge and skills, he doesn't panic or become hot-headed in the midst of battle. And that is how – even if he finds himself in the worst fix – he can clearly retreat. I suspect – in terms of the psychological profiles deemed essential in Chunin – Shikamaru's got the most important one… the disposition of a natural leader!'_ Asuma thought.

Stands, Kiba, Hinata, Kotetsu and Izumo

"If we assess him as a platoon leader, the ability to protect and safely get one's soldiers out of danger is even more important than carrying out one's mission…" Izumo said.

"In the case of intelligence gathering, completing the mission, but getting wiped out is not a viable option… Unless you can balance risks and sacrifices against the mission and proceed with survival as your foremost concern… you don't have what it takes to be a Chunin…" Kotetsu said.

"Along those lines, neither Hyuga nor Naruto are qualified, although they make perfectly good Genin! Well, I still think Shikamaru gave up too early too, but… what do you think?" Izumo said.

"What do I think…? I think he definitely more promise than Naruto… to become a Chunin…" Kotetsu said.

Arena

Shikamaru walked through the door out of the arena to return to the applicant box as Dosu came out the door and walked to the middle of the arena.

"Next match is Temari vs Dosu Kinuta." Genma said.

Dosu charged at Temari and swung his arm, but Temari blocked it with her fan, however, the sound amplifier on Dosu's arm sent a wave of sound into Temari's ear. She took a few steps back before jumping away.

'_Let's see, if I get too close, he'll use that thing on his arm. Good thing I'm better at long-range combat anyway.'_ She thought before she noticed the cracks on Dosu's melody arm '_Wait a minute, that's it, he'll be powerless without that device on his arm.'_

Temari then unfolded the fan and waved it "Kamaitachi no jutsu." A huge gust of wind came and Dosu held his arms in front of himself to protect himself, but the cracks on his melody arm got bigger and the sound amplifier shattered.

'_NANI?'_ He thought just before he was swept by the winds and knocked-out.

"Victor, Temari!" Genma announced and the crowd cheered.

Konoha stadium, outside

Outside the stadium were two men standing guard when they noticed to people coming towards them.

"Oh! You're…" One of the men said.

Stands, Sakura, Ino and Choji

'_He's… still not here… Sasuke-kun…'_ Sakura thought as she looked around.

Konoha stadium, outside

"Good to see you, sirs! Now, please come in!" One of the two men said as they both gestured to the gate that led into the stadium.

"ROGER!" Lee said as he gave a salute.

"All right! Let's go, Lee!" Guy said.

"Oh! Yes sir." Lee said as he looked at his idol.

"Almost all of the first-round battles have concluded…" One of the two men said.

"The only remaining is Uchiha Sasuke vs Gaara!" The other one said.

"Wh-what about Naruto-kun and Neji's battle…?" Lee asked.

"That's the interesting thing… Hyuga lost…" One of the two men said to Lee's and Guy's shock.

'_Naruto-kun defeated Neji…'_ Lee thought before saying "I see…" '_Nice work… Naruto-kun!'_

'_Lee, you are such a great kid…'_ Guy thought.

Kage Block

"We've finally received word from Kakashi-san…" Raido whispered.

Applicant box

Temari jumped up to where the applicants were and Kankuro said "H-hey, it's almost time… Is he really going to come?"

"He'll come… I'm sure of it!" Gaara said.

Arena

Suddenly there was a swirl of leafs in the middle of the arena, and Kakashi and Sasuke had appeared at last.

"Ahh, so sorry we're late…" Kakashi apologized.

"Your name?" Genma asked.

"Uchiha… Sasuke." Sasuke said.

Stands, Sakura, Ino and Choji

'_Sasuke-kun…!'_ Sakura thought.

Applicant box

'_Heh… acting all high and mighty… even though he's inconvenienced everyone!'_ Shikamaru thought.

Stands, Sakura, Ino and Choji

"Hey… isn't that…" Ino started.

"It's Sasuke, all right!" Lee said as he and Guy showed up.

"LEE-SAN!" Sakura exclaimed.

Applicant box

"See… he came." Gaara said.

Arena

"Well, uh, flashy entrance notwithstanding… don't tell me… Sasuke lost by forfeit?" Kakashi asked as he scratched the back of his head "See… I told you we'd be late, Sasuke."

"Maybe your tardiness is contagious? Sheesh!" Genma said.

"So… what's the deal?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't worry, you're safe! Sasuke's match was postponed. His match wasn't forfeited." Genma said.

"Ah ha ha… Oh, good! Good!" Kakashi said before he and Sasuke looked up at Gaara.

Stands, Sakura, Ino, Choji, Lee and Guy

"WHEE! SASUKE-KUN!" Ino cheered from the top of her lungs.

'_A few minutes ago she was all for Shikamaru, and now she's all for Sasuke… poor Shikamaru.'_ Choji thought.

Applicant box

'_Well, I've gotta admit, I've kinda been looking forward to this match too…'_ Shikamaru thought.

Stands, Sakura, Ino, Choji, Lee and Guy

"Hey, Sakura! Your team's kinda pretty awesome…! I mean… I never imagined Naruto would beat up Hyuga Neji… and Sasuke-kun's an Uchiha elite… with everyone itching to watch his match!" Ino said.

'_Sasuke is fighting that Suna ninja Gaara, whom I was powerless against… and Naruto-kun won against Neji whom I have always wanted to defeat… Why… why am I so… jealous?'_ Lee thought as he looked down on the floor.

'_Lee…'_ Guy thought.

Arena

"Gaara, come down." Genma said.

Applicant box

'_Sh-shoot… I haven't seen Gaara this bad in a while…'_ Temari thought.

"… H-hey Gaara… don't forget about the plan, all ri…" Kankuro was stooped from saying more when Temari put her hand over his mouth.

"Don't talk to him right now… he'll kill you!" She whispered before Gaara began walking down the stairs.

With Gaara

As Gaara walked through the corridors, two Kusa ninja suddenly stepped in his way.

"Halt!" One of them said.

"Low-level tournaments like this Chunin exam are ideal for gambling, you know… there are a number of lords who have come just for that reason." The other one said.

"And so… this match… we want you to lose it…" The first one said before sand suddenly came out of Gaara's gourd and they were both crushed, and Gaara continued on like nothing had ever happened.

Stands, Sakura, Ino, Choji, Lee and Guy

"Yo, Guy! And you too, Lee… Are you all right now?" Kakashi said as he appeared behind Guy and Lee via shunshin.

"Kakashi!" Guy said.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry. You were worried weren't you…? Sorry I didn't keep in touch…" Kakashi said.

'_Oh yeah. She'll get mad… Sakura will…'_ Ino thought.

"… It's all right!" Sakura said to Ino's surprise as she looked down towards Sasuke while thinking '_I can't see it very well from up here…'_

"… Kakashi-sensei…" She said, catching her sensei's attention "That mark… on Sasuke-kun's neck… it's still…"

"It's nothing to worry about." Kakashi reassured her.

'_Mark?'_ Ino thought, wondering what they were talking about.

Kakashi then looked around and noticed that there were only eight ANBU in the entire stadium.

"Only eight ANBU for this huge stadium…? Two platoons aren't enough… What is Hokage-sama thinking…?" He said quietly.

"Well… not knowing how the enemy is going to act… the ANBU have probably also been dispersed and stationed around key parts of the village." Guy said.

Applicant box

Naruto's ears twitched slightly as he had listened in on Kakashi and Guy's conversation thanks to the super-hearing he got when he was at the first seal.

'_Enemy? Are they talking about that Orochimaru guy? Is he here?'_ Naruto thought before he decided to go and talk to his sensei, hoping to find out what's going on and also tell Kakashi about what Gaara is.

"Hey, Naruto! Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked before he decided to follow the blond.

Arena

"BEGIN!" Genma said and sand suddenly came out of Gaara's gourd as Sasuke jumped back.

'_So this is the sand Kakashi was talking about…'_ He thought just before Gaara got an intense headache and he brought his hand up to his forehead.

"Please… don't be so angry… ka-san…" He said.

'_What is he talking about…? Weird.'_ Sasuke thought.

"I… gave you bad-tasting blood earlier. Didn't I…? I'm sorry… But… don't worry… this time… I'm sure it'll be really tasty…" Gaara said.

Applicant box

"The "Conversation" has started already… this is not good." Kankuro said.

"I've never seen Gaara so worked up before a battle even started… that's how much of an opponent Sasuke is…" Temari said.

Stands, Baki

"It seems to have settled down." Baki said when he noticed that Gaara's headache faded with a final pulse of pain.

Arena

"Come." Gaara simply said.

"Here I come." Sasuke said before drawing two shuriken and throwing them at Gaara, but a column of sand rose up from the ground and shaped itself into a clone of Gaara as it caught the shuriken.

Applicant box

"His sand shield transformed into a Suna Bunshin…!" Temari said.

Arena

Sasuke then charged at Gaara, but the Suna Bunshin sent a wave of sand out of its stomach at the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped up in the air to avoid the sand, but the Bunshin threw the shuriken at the Genin, but Sasuke threw two other shuriken and hit the two that the clone had thrown. As Sasuke approached the ground, he moved in to kick the Bunshin, but said Bunshin held its arms up in front of itself in hopes to stop the kick, but Sasuke kicked right through both arms. The Uchiha then landed on the ground with his hands, but pushed off to land on his feet before he swung the back of his left arm into the clone's neck, but the clone smirked as sand suddenly enveloped Sasuke's arm, but then Sasuke smirked.

"Now, you can't dodge!" Sasuke said before a red glyph appeared under his feet "Fire Ball." Three small balls of heated oxygen appeared and flew straight into the Suna Bunshin, turning it into glass and the Uchiha easily broke through it.

Sasuke then rushed at the brown-haired Jinchuriki and a wall of sand came up in front of him, but the Uchiha smirked before vanishing and Gaara's eyes widened as he realized that Sasuke was now behind him.

'_Fast! Just like… him…'_ Gaara thought before Sasuke punched him in the face so hard that the sand armor began to crack and the Jinchuriki was sent flying backwards before the sand caught him.

Stands, Sakura, Ino, Choji, Lee, Guy and Kakashi

' _He's quick! He's almost as fast as Lee's average speed… and…'_ Guy thought.

'… _His stance matches… my Taijutsu image!'_ Lee thought.

Arena

"Is that your sand armor?" Sasuke asked as he had assumed a Taijutsu stance, the same one that Lee's "Come!"

Uchiha Hideout

Two men were walking through the ancient home of the Uchiha clan, both of them wore black robes with a red cloud pattern and they also wore weird straw hats, one of them also had a large, bandaged sword on his back while the other one had red eyes with three black tormoe in each.

"You sure this is the place?" The one with the sword asked.

""A place under the banner of the Uchiha"! I'm sure this is the place." The one with the red eyes said as they entered what appeared to be some kind of throne room.

"There's nothing here, this isn't the place." The one with the sword said as he looked around.

"You're wrong!" The one with the red eyes said as he walked past the throne and stopped before a poster on the wall. The poster had the kanji for Kitsune and around it where eight tormoe-like marks, also just underneath the kanji there was some words written in the angelic language and the man's eyes started spinning as the tormoes suddenly formed into a windmill pattern.

""Hold up the sacred ring of the Angels to see the path!"" He read using his eyes, the next seal had been found, it was time to go and get the Chosen One.

Chapter preview

Naruto "Huh… what the… why do I see feathers…?"

Orochimaru "Ho ho… old age has made you feeble-minded… Sarutobi-sensei!"

Kakashi "I've got another mission for you…" "An A-rank assignment…"

Hiruzen "Please prepare yourselves… Shodai Hokage! Nidaime Hokage!"

Shikamaru "Besides, our "friends" were assembled specifically for this plot, while our group is composed of… a dobe… a kunoichi without any particular talent… a dog… and the number one slacker, me!"

Oto-nin "It seems you've reached your limit. Your Kagemane – or whatever you call it – will fail soon… so prepare yourself!"

Sasuke '_Itachi-onii-san chose me as his avenger… as the one who will eventually destroy him!'_

Kabuto "Next time on Tales of Shippuden: Operation: Destroy Konoha!"

Hiruzen "I call upon the lord of the underworld, the guardian of the dead! I summon thee, come, SHINIGAMI!"

Character status

Naruto: Level: 20

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin, Demon Fang, Tiger Blade, Azure Edge, Futon: Kamikaze, Kamiton: Kami shuriken, Kamiton: Kami kunai, Angel style: Angel Feathers jutsu, Kuchiyose, Rasengan.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Young Uzumaki, Jinchuriki, Genin, Full-Fledged Shinobi, Five Elements, Summoner of Toads.

Sasuke: Level: 21

Techniques: Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin, Demon Fang, Tiger Blade, Fire Ball, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka Katon: Karyudan.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.

Titles: Uchiha, Genin, Avenger.

Neji: Level: 20

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Juken, Hakkesho Kaiten, Hakke Rokujuyon Sho.

Weapons: kunai shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan.

Titles: Hyuga prodigy.

Shikamaru: Level: 10

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kagemane, Ino-Shika-Cho.

Weapons: kunai, shuriken.

Titles: Whining Fool, I.Q of Over 200.

Gaara: Level: 21

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Suna Bunshin, Daisan no me, Suna no Tate, Suna no Yoroi, Sabaku Kyu, Sabaku Soso.

Weapons: none

Titles: Spook, I'll Kill You.

Temari: level: 16

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Fusajin, Kamaitachi.

Weapons: giant fan.

Titles: Suna Kunoichi.

Dosu: Level: 15

Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Kyomeisen.

Weapons: melody arm.

**Naruto: **Wait a minute, if I could hear what Kakashi-sensei and Uber-Brows-sensei are talking about, then how come I'm not hearingwhat those Suna guys are talking about.

**Kurama no Kyubi:** Go watch that movie "To Boldly Flee" on , then you'll understand… it's all because of the Plot Hole! Nah, just kidding. It's because you were focusing your attention elsewhere… specifically wondering where Sasuke was. Oh, and to you readers, I hope you enjoyed this, and PLEASE REVIEW!


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